PM Starmer determined to 'clamp down' on heating oil rip-offs as Northern Ireland oil prices rocket

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he is determined to “clamp down” on people “getting ripped off” on their energy bills after his meeting with party leaders in Belfast, where there was cross-party and cross-community consensus on the call for more help.

The London Treasury will “co-ordinate” with the Northern Ireland Executive on home heating oil support, Sir Keir has said.

He visited the Atlas Women’s Centre Lisburn before travelling to Co Cork to meet Irish premier Micheal Martin at a summit of senior UK and Irish ministers.

Following US and Israeli strikes, Iran has warned vessels not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, leading to the price of heating oil doubling in the past week.

Rising bills is a particularly acute problem in Northern Ireland, where 62.5% of homes rely on the fuel, compared with the UK average of just over 5%.

Speaking to reporters in Lisburn, Sir Keir said the Government needs to “react as quickly and as appropriately as possible in relation to this”.

“I’m really, really determined that where people are getting ripped off, we clamp down on this really early on. Because the last thing you need in a situation like this is people paying over the odds because somebody else is actually ripping them off,” he said.

“I can assure you and everybody watching that this is absolutely on my radar, on my team’s radar.

“I know how acutely important it is here, particularly in Northern Ireland.”

He said the Treasury would work with the Executive at Stormont, adding that money had been set aside in the budget to reduce bills.

Asked what actions he would take, he told reporters in Belfast: “Let me acknowledge just how important this is for so many people in Northern Ireland, because about two-thirds of households are using oil as their heating.”

He added: “Obviously the prices are fluctuating on a daily basis. The most important first thing is to co-ordinate with international leaders to de-escalate the situation.

“But for people in their households, obviously they need to know in addition to that ‘what’s happening in relation to me’.

“In the budget, we did set aside money for energy bills to take money off those bills, that money is there and so what we’re looking at now is how quickly can we work with others – because this is the decision of others – to translate that into money off bills here in Northern Ireland, particularly for those who’ve got oil-based heating, because they’re the ones I think, at the moment, most acutely concerned.”

Sinn Fein Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald has come under fire this week as the DUP highlighted that an announcement in the Chancellor’s spring statement made £81 million of funding available to Stormont to reduce energy bills and claimed her Department have not yet submitted a business case tothe Treasury for the funding.

The Economy Minister said “false assertions are being made in relation to this funding” and that the support “cannot make its way to consumers until the Westminster Parliament amends the Energy Prices Act 2022”.

Asked about the situation, the Prime Minister said “there are different views as to why that hasn’t translated into money off bills yet”.

“I see my job as just making sure that we do what we can, to make sure that whatever needs to be done is done, to make sure that is translated into money off bills as quickly as possible,” he said.

He added: “I’m not going to get drawn into who’s right and who’s wrong because I think for people who are worried about their bills, I think they’d be saying ‘just get on, work with others and make sure it does translate into money off my bills’.”

Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Northern Ireland has “raised expectations” that he will act on the high cost of fuel, Sinn Fein leader has said.

Mary Lou McDonald said the cost of living was the main topic discussed during a “very forthright” meeting with Sir Keir in Belfast on Thursday.

She and First Minister for Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill said that families were struggling with high costs, as around two-thirds of domestic properties in Northern Ireland use home heating oil.

He was meeting with the political leaders at Stormont before attending the UK-Ireland Summit in Cork, along with several senior ministers from his Cabinet.

The meeting comes as Sir Keir faces renewed questioning over making Lord Peter Mandelson the UK’s Washington ambassador after a release of official documents revealed he had been warned of a “general reputational risk” over the appointment.

It also comes as governments are coming under pressure over a spike in the cost of fuel and home heating oil after the US and Israel began bombing Iran over a week ago.

Ms McDonald said in Belfast: “We’ve challenged the Prime Minister now to make an announcement, to come up with something that will actually make a difference to households right across the north that are struggling so badly and who, thus far, have not seen any kind of an adequate response from London, from the Prime Minister or from the Treasury.”

She added: “Keir Starmer has come to Ireland, to Belfast, to Cork.

“He has framed his visit in respect of cost-of-living pressures, and specifically the price gouging, but also the runaway cost of home heating oil, and he needs to come up with an answer for families all across the north.

“I fully expect, and we’ve made this plain to him, that he will have something constructive and meaningful to say in that regard when he comes and speaks to the press.”

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said it strikes “a strange chord” that political leaders in Northern Ireland would call on Sir Keir to act on high energy prices when there was funding “waiting to be dispensed”.

He said actions that could be taken on soaring fuel costs and “levers at his disposal” were a particular topic on Sir Keir’s agenda on Thursday.

Mr Robinson said: “He was as aghast as I was to discover that £81 million is sitting there waiting to be dispensed, to assist consumers in Northern Ireland, and yet we have an economy minister that hasn’t started work on a business case, and a party that still seems to be reluctant to agree that that figure is correct.”

He added: “It does strike a strange chord when some political leaders from Northern Ireland today will be saying that this Prime Minister needs to provide financial support, when he can stand back and say, I have done so, and £81 million is available for the people of Northern Ireland, and it’s up to your leaders to determine how best that support should be dispensed at this time of need.”

Northern Ireland First Minister and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill said there had been a “bit of messing around” on how Westminster supports are enacted in Northern Ireland.

“The previous announcement of £81 million, that was £150 credit off people’s electricity bills in England, but over here it translates to £30,” Ms O’Neill said.

“So we challenged the Prime Minister today very directly on that point, they need to bring forward a piece of legislation that allows us to actually get that £30, the previous announcement, out into people’s pockets.”

She added: “Every family that we spoke to, every individual that we’re speaking to, are really struggling right now, they were already struggling, and now what’s internationally is having a real life impact on their day to day lives.”

Ms McDonald added: “It’s not good enough, you know, to talk a big game around supporting people in this cost of living crisis and then short change them.

“There’s no sense in Keir Starmer coming here a day late and a dollar short.”

Alliance Party leader and Justice Minister Naomi Long said that their meeting with Sir Keir was “short” but “packed” and he seemed “very open” to the issues raised.

“We are the most reliant region of the UK on home heating oil and it does create real challenges for us,” she said.

“What we need to do is both focus on the transition to better fuel opportunities, and they are out there, and we need to invest in that, but we also need some kind of short-term intervention, that will be properly guided by the evidence, but will ensure that local householders are not put under further pressure.”

Mrs Long said among the issues discussed were the budgetary constraints faced by the Northern Ireland Executive, the stability of and reform of the power-sharing institutions, and the cost of living crisis.

UUP leader Jon Burrows said he had a “very frank and constructive conversation” with Sir Keir, also calling for support with costs of home heating oil, as well as for “a greater proportion” of defence expenditure to be spent in Northern Ireland.

He also said the UK Government needs to find “their backbone in dealing with legacy” and should “stand up to the Irish government and ensure that they fully cooperate with trying to get truth and justice for victims of terrorism”.

SDLP leader Claire Hanna joined the Executive parties in calling for support with energy prices, adding that “how that has been handled by the Executive illustrates the dysfunction we’re trying to fix with our reform proposals”.

Mr Robinson said he also discussed the powersharing institutions, the budgetary shortfall in Northern Ireland, and post-Brexit related “nonsensical hangovers” on trade with Great Britain.

Ms McDonald said they raised issues relating to Palestine, Iran and the UK’s arming of Israel, as well as the progress in establishing the Pat Finucane inquiry and the need for an inquiry into the death of Sean Brown, a Catholic father murdered by loyalists in 1997.

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