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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Energy price freeze: former Tory minister backs Ed Miliband plan | Energy price freeze: former Tory minister backs Ed Miliband plan |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Ed Miliband is right to set out plans to freeze energy bills because the market is not working properly and desperately needs reform, a former Tory Treasury minister and prominent businessman has said. | Ed Miliband is right to set out plans to freeze energy bills because the market is not working properly and desperately needs reform, a former Tory Treasury minister and prominent businessman has said. |
| Anthony Nelson, who served in Sir John Major's government, said people should not listen to the scare stories put out by energy companies, who claim the plans could lead to blackouts. | Anthony Nelson, who served in Sir John Major's government, said people should not listen to the scare stories put out by energy companies, who claim the plans could lead to blackouts. |
| The banker and ex-chairman of Southern Water dismissed the idea that this is a socialist proposal by Labour, saying he believes there needs to be a review of the balance between the profits energy firms make and the prices they charge. | The banker and ex-chairman of Southern Water dismissed the idea that this is a socialist proposal by Labour, saying he believes there needs to be a review of the balance between the profits energy firms make and the prices they charge. |
| "I welcome Ed Miliband's proposal for a price freeze of gas and electricity for a period covering two winters," he said. | "I welcome Ed Miliband's proposal for a price freeze of gas and electricity for a period covering two winters," he said. |
| "This will bring much needed relief to all consumers. It will also provide an opportunity to re-examine the balance that regulated industries must strike between the profits they make and the prices they charge. | "This will bring much needed relief to all consumers. It will also provide an opportunity to re-examine the balance that regulated industries must strike between the profits they make and the prices they charge. |
| "Scare stories put out by the energy companies that the lights will go out proves Ed Miliband's point that this is a market that isn't working properly and that desperately needs reform. This is not about socialism, it is about fairness." | "Scare stories put out by the energy companies that the lights will go out proves Ed Miliband's point that this is a market that isn't working properly and that desperately needs reform. This is not about socialism, it is about fairness." |
| The water industry has long been subject to price regulation, along with many energy markets in Europe. | The water industry has long been subject to price regulation, along with many energy markets in Europe. |
| Nelson spoke out amid a row within the Labour party about whether Miliband's plans to freeze bills for 20 months is a practical solution to the problem of rising bills. | Nelson spoke out amid a row within the Labour party about whether Miliband's plans to freeze bills for 20 months is a practical solution to the problem of rising bills. |
| Lord Mandelson, a former business secretary, said that the Labour leader's demand for a resetting of the energy market could create the impression that the party's industrial policy was going backwards. He suggested that Miliband's speech could be seen as taking the party back to a previous era in which the options for industrial policy amounted to either state control or laissez-faire. | Lord Mandelson, a former business secretary, said that the Labour leader's demand for a resetting of the energy market could create the impression that the party's industrial policy was going backwards. He suggested that Miliband's speech could be seen as taking the party back to a previous era in which the options for industrial policy amounted to either state control or laissez-faire. |
| However, Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary, hit back at the Labour grandee on Thursday. Defending the flagship announcement, she pointed out Mandelson was the architect of a windfall tax on utility companies after 1997, costing the firms £5bn. | |
| "Lord Mandelson is just plainly wrong," she told the BBC. "Our energy market reforms are about making the market more competitive, but also recognising that not just consumers but also businesses have been paying too much for their bills, and we're introducing a temporary price freeze to help consumers. | "Lord Mandelson is just plainly wrong," she told the BBC. "Our energy market reforms are about making the market more competitive, but also recognising that not just consumers but also businesses have been paying too much for their bills, and we're introducing a temporary price freeze to help consumers. |
| "Lord Mandelson may not have to worry about his energy bills, but a lot of consumers and businesses do." | "Lord Mandelson may not have to worry about his energy bills, but a lot of consumers and businesses do." |
| Flint also suggested that Lord Mandelson has financial interests in energy companies. The peer later denied that he had commercial interests in any domestic energy firms or in the big six energy companies. | |
| It is understood that Ed Miliband regrets the suggestion was made and does not want the policy dispute between him and the former business secretary to include such allegations. | |
| Margaret Hodge, a former Labour minister and chair of the Commons public accounts committee, also defended the policy, arguing consumers are suffering too much from high prices. | Margaret Hodge, a former Labour minister and chair of the Commons public accounts committee, also defended the policy, arguing consumers are suffering too much from high prices. |
| "These are old monopolies that have become privatised, and I think if you don't get tough regulation, you do get the consumer being ripped off," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. | "These are old monopolies that have become privatised, and I think if you don't get tough regulation, you do get the consumer being ripped off," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. |
| "We've seen energy prices going through the roof, and I think we have to get much tougher on regulating these public utilities." | "We've seen energy prices going through the roof, and I think we have to get much tougher on regulating these public utilities." |
| • This article was amended on 26 September 2013 to remove part of the quotation from Caroline Flint. | |
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