"Humanitarian emergency": Scotland wants to cap rents and train prices

You can not stop the rise in energy prices.

"Humanitarian emergency": Scotland wants to cap rents and train prices

You can not stop the rise in energy prices. But the Scottish head of government has announced that rents will be frozen. In addition, there should be no forced evictions for the time being.

In view of the sharp rise in the cost of living, the Scottish regional government wants to temporarily freeze rents in the British part of the country. It is a "humanitarian emergency" and she will immediately initiate appropriate legislation, said Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon in the regional parliament in Edinburgh. A moratorium should also apply to forced evictions.

The politician from the Scottish National Party (SNP) also wants to introduce a cap for fares at the recently nationalized railway company ScotRail. This should apply at least until March 2023.

Sturgeon, who is campaigning for the independence of her part of the country, should not have chosen the timing of her announcement by chance just before the inaugural speech of the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss. During the course of the day, observers expect that Truss, who was appointed to office by the Queen at noon, will soon present a plan on how to limit the recently significantly increased costs for gas and electricity for households and companies.

Sturgeon called on Truss to also freeze energy prices. These are the responsibility of the central government in London. "The Scottish Government doesn't have the power to stop your energy prices from going up, but we can make sure your rents don't go up," Sturgeon said.