Obscene': Astonishment as ScottishPower pays out dividends worth... £7bn

This exclusive is an investigative front page agenda-setting article in the public interest that literally holds power to account.

The ScottishPower story revealed for the first time that £7bn in dividends had been provided by the Glasgow-based energy firm to its foreign owners as it emerged it was pushing for a taxpayer-supported £100bn loan fund to allow energy firms to freeze dual fuel bills in the cost of living crisis. Liz Truss has recently announced a dual fuel bill price freeze, after the ScottishPower's chief executive's lobbying. Coverage has sparked demonstrations outside the headquarters of the ScottishPower, led by political activists and Britain's biggest trade union Unite. It became a major talking point online and the general secretary of Britain's biggest union Unite went on to quote the investigation in a recent keynote address in Scotland. The investigation used key financial information confirmed by sources to verify precisely how much had been funnelled to Iberdrola over 15 years. This story has been picked up by politicians, campaigners and unions to fight for a windfall tax to help bring people's bills down in the cost of living crisis. It was part of a run of investigations surrounding the cost of living crisis that also revealed for the first time nearly £1 billion has been given to energy firms to switch off mainly Scottish wind farm turbines because they produce too much power - with the money going onto our energy bills.