The government has agreed to Labour’s demand to extend the Energy Price Guarantee, capping what energy suppliers can charge, but it will only last until July. But what the energy crisis – and the way in which the UK has been hit harder than other countries – has made clear is that sticking-plaster politics are not enough. The government’s decision to see the rough gas storage facility in the North Sea close in 2017 and other areas of lack of long-term investment saw our resilience weakened us and left us more exposed when the energy crisis hit.
And even now the government still refuses to implement a proper windfall tax to make the oil and gas giants making excess profits pay their fair share. That means they are leaving billions on the table that could be used to help families with the cost of living. Even BP admitted that tax on its excess profits wouldn’t affect investment decisions in future greener energy.
That support for families is what’s right and fair and sorely needed. In Feltham and Heston, around 12,000 households are in fuel poverty, meaning they can’t afford to heat their homes adequately or run essential appliances, like ovens. We’ve seen the growing hardship and it’s heartbreaking.
It doesn’t need to be like this.
Britain used to be a global leader in energy. It was the renewables obligation introduced by the last Labour government that kickstarted onshore and offshore wind. It was the feed-in tariff introduced by the last Labour government which turbo-charged solar energy
But it is clear for all to see that, over the last 13 years, the Conservatives have broken their green promises: they have scrapped home insulation programmes, banned onshore wind, crashed the solar power market and driven up energy bills. This is what has made our energy system more vulnerable to external shocks, like Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – as well as polluting our planet.
We are now in a race against time to improve our energy stability and security for the sake of our communities and the planet. We need to build in fairness for all into our future energy plans too. That’s why the Labour Party have been setting out our plans to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.
In the first year of a Labour government led by Keir Starmer, we will create Great British Energy, a new, publicly-owned clean energy company that will harness the power of Britain’s sun, wind and waves. Through GB Energy, we will cut energy bills for good – saving £93 billion for UK households – while delivering 100% clean power by 2030 and creating thousands of good jobs in every area of the country.
And we will establish a National Wealth Fund – investing billions each year in the green economy. This will build on the strengths that already exist in Britain’s economy – in hydrogen fuels, in electric vehicles, in green steel, in offshore wind and in decarbonising industry. This will be working in partnership with industry and entrepreneurs and with communities across the country.
This is a defining moment for our country. We can carry on as we are: faltering climate leadership, losing the global race for green jobs, standing by while other countries get ahead and adopting piecemeal sticking-plaster policies to support people with the cost of living and businesses with the cost of doing business.
Or we can do something different – and show the world we are leading the way, delivering lower energy bills, energy security and thousands of good green jobs. We have the answers to the challenges we face. Now we need the political leadership and long-term plans for the future that makes it happen.