Labour's Shadow Secretary has slammed Centrica, owners of British Gas, after reporting profits of £2.415 billion.

Caroline Flint MP said people will be shocked when millions of families are struggling with their energy bills while British Gas enjoys huge profits.

Ms Flint said: "By letting the energy giants get away with this, the Government is showing it's out of touch and completely unable to stand up to powerful vested interests in the energy industry.

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"Our energy market needs a complete overhaul, but David Cameron can only fiddle at the margins because he’s too close to vested interests to stand up for working people. Labour will stand up for hard-pressed families and pensioners and end the rip off. We will reform the energy market by making the big six energy companies sell all of their energy into a pool, allowing new companies to compete to sell it to the public. This will break the stranglehold of the big six, encourage new entrants, increase competition and drive down energy bills for families.

"Even when there’s less money around Labour can still deliver fairness for elderly people struggling with their soaring fuel bills by getting our energy firms to show greater responsibility. We will make energy companies, by law, guarantee that elderly customers, those over 75, will be offered the cheapest tariff for their gas and electricity."

(CD/GK)