Conservative response to Labour’s energy claims

Responding, Brandon Lewis MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party, said:

“Labour’s plans to renationalise the energy network would cost tens of billions of pounds, which would be funded by hardworking taxpayers.

“Not only would their policies lead to less choice and poorer services, there would also be nowhere to turn when things go wrong.

“In contrast, the Conservatives modern Industrial Strategy promotes renewable energy so that we can cut emissions while keeping the costs down for consumers, creating good jobs and leaving a cleaner, greener Britain for future generations.” 

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Under the Conservatives, we are investing in renewable energy to cut costs and create jobs.

• 2017 was the cleanest and greenest year ever for electricity.  2017 saw the first full day without coal power since the Industrial Revolution while the rise of renewable energy helped break 13 clean energy records in 2017 (The Times, 28 December 2017, link). 

• Renewable electricity generation is now at a record high due to our investment. The share of electricity we generated from renewables rose to a record high of 29.4 per cent in 2016. Electricity from clean wind power increased by 43 per cent between December 2017 and February 2018. Low carbon electricity’s share of generation increased to a record high of 50.4 per cent in 2017, driven in part by increased renewable capacity (DBEIS press release, 3 May 2018, link; DBEIS, Energy Trends: March 2018, 29 March 2018, link).

Labour’s plans have been slammed by a leading trade union, while experts have found that it would cost tens of billions. 

• The GMB attacked Jeremy Corbyn’s energy policy concluding that it ‘will not keep the lights on’. The GMB stated that ‘wishful thinking doesn’t generate the power we need to heat homes, keep the lights on and the economy functioning; this means that until there are technological breakthroughs in carbon capture or solar storage then gas and nuclear power are the only reliable, low-carbon shows in town for all those days when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow’ (GMB press release, 7 September 2016, link).

• Analysis by independent experts shows that renationalisation of the national grid would cost over £55.4 billion. The Centre for Policy Studies found that Labour’s plans to renationalise the energy network would cost at least £55.4 billion, and up to £185 billion. (Centre for Policy Studies, The cost of nationalisation,  21 January 2018, link)

• Since privatisation, network costs are nearly a fifth lower with higher investments on average than during the period before privatisation meaning fewer power cuts.  In 2017, network costs were 17 per cent lower than at the time of privatisation (excluding inflation) meaning lowering costs for the consumers than if the national grid were still in government hands.  Capital investment in the electricity networks is higher on average than the period immediately prior to privatisation. These improvements have reduced power cuts by around 40 per cent since 2002 (Hansard, WPQ 109821, 1 November 2017, link).

When Labour were in government, they failed to deliver on their promises.

• Labour promised so much but delivered so little.  Between 1997 and 2008, however, the proportion of fossil fuel use steadily increased from 88.1 per cent to 91.5 per cent – a rise equivalent to burning an additional 8 million tonnes of oil a year (Hansard, 8 March 2010, Col. 10WA; Hansard, 4 February 2009, Col. 1372WA; DECC, Digest of UK Energy Statistics, July 2009, p. 13).

• Under Labour, we had the highest dependency on fossil fuels in the G8. In 2008, the UK was joint with Italy in having the highest dependence on fossil fuels in the G8. The IEA measured the UK’s fossil fuel dependency at 90 per cent, compared to 51 per cent in France (Hansard, 16 March 2010, Col. 798W).