Keir Starmer said it would lower bills and give the country energy independence

Labour has today confirmed one of its central manifesto commitments, a pledge to create a new publicly owned energy company called Great British Energy. The new firm would be based in Scotland and would be responsible for investing in renewable energy projects within the UK.

The Labour Party has said that Great British Energy will initially receive £8.3 billion of funding over the course of a parliament. This would be funded through a windfall tax on large oil and gas firms.

Labour says that it would begin working on Great British Energy within months of entering government, and says the firm would be key to addressing the cost of living crisis by cutting energy bills.

Speaking on the policy, the Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “Family financial security depends on energy security.

“The pain and misery of the cost-of-living crisis was directly caused by the Tories’ failure to make Britain resilient, leaving us at the mercy of fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators like Putin.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Our clean power mission with Great British Energy will take back control of our destiny and invest in cheap, clean homegrown energy that we control.

“We will turn the page on the cost-of-living crisis. The choice at this election is clear: higher bills and energy insecurity with the Conservatives, or lower bills and energy security with Labour.”

The shadow energy security and net zero secretary Ed Miliband added: “Great British Energy will kick-start our mission for clean power to lower bills and boost our energy independence.

“It’s time to move on from the Tories’ bone-headed opposition to clean energy, for which British families are paying the price.

“The choice at this General Election is clear: higher bills and energy insecurity with the Conservatives, or lower bills and energy independence with Labour.”

Labour’s announcement has been welcomed by campaign groups focussed on the environment and public services.

Anti-privatisation group We Own It tweeted its support, saying “Labour is right to promise to create Great British Energy in public ownership”, and pointing out that many countries that are leading on decarbonisation of energy already have a publicly owned renewable energy generation company.

Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth said the policy was “great news”. The organisation’s head of policy, Mike Childs, said: “Labour’s pledge to develop the UK’s enormous home-grown renewable energy potential is great news that will help to power the transition to a green economy that we so urgently need.”

However, both We Own It and Friends of the Earth have called on the Labour Party to go further on decarbonisation and tackling the cost of living crisis.

Cat Hobbs, director of We Own It, told Left Foot Forward “we support this move and hope it will show that public ownership is vital to deliver on national goals”, but went on to say that it “doesn’t go far enough”. She called for Labour to commit to bring the energy networks into public ownership and create an energy retail company in public ownership too.

Friends of the Earth’s head of policy added: “The party mustn’t rest on its laurels just because it has one strong green policy. We’re yet to hear how it intends to tackle the enormous carbon pollution created by transport and heating our homes, for example, which can be addressed by rolling out a nationwide programme of insulation, funding the switch to heat pumps, and delivering a true public transport renaissance. 

“Championing the switch to green electricity is all well and good, but it’s not nearly enough in isolation. Labour, and indeed all parties, must strengthen their green commitments – not solely because our collective future demands it, but to build a better Britain on the whole, where our bills are lower, economy is stronger, and jobs in emerging clean industries are plentiful and secure.”

The Green Party of England and Wales has also said that it believes Labour’s policy is insufficient. The party’s co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: “We need real change if we are to meet the demands of the climate crisis. These Labour plans do not deliver it. Compared to Labour’s original commitment to spend £28bn a year on green investment, this announcement of just £8.3bn over the course of the parliament looks tiny and is nowhere near enough to deliver Labour’s promise of “clean electricity.’  

“Labour’s targets focus on the electricity supply. However, to achieve net zero we need to see the electrification of home heating. This aim was ditched when Labour cancelled its £28 billion investment pledge.  

“Domestic energy security is vital, but that must begin with energy efficiency. That means providing the national programme of home insulation delivered by local authorities that will ensure warm homes and cut bills. This was another victim of Labour’s ditching of its original £28 billion investment pledge.” 

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

Image credit: Keir Starmer Flickr – Creative Commons

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