Starmer says it's time to “take back control of our national energy security”, pledging homegrown Great British Energy will “get Putin’s boot off our throat”

Keir Starmer argues today that Britain must “take back control of our national energy security”, with a publicly owned clean energy company that can “get Putin’s boot off our throat” as part of his ambition for a more patriotic economy.

Starmer will draw a major new dividing line on economic security with the Conservatives, saying that in the face of tyrants overseas, “a key pillar of a modern British economy is secure, homegrown British energy - this is a basic duty of government and it’s frankly unpatriotic for the Tories to oppose it.” 

The Labour leader will be in North Wales today (Monday), joining new Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething to promote Labour’s plans for Great British Energy. The Party has committed to the publicly owned company, underpinned by an ambitious £8.3bn budget to invest in clean homegrown power generation ‘to cut bills for families, create jobs across the country, and take back control of energy security’. 

Labour has also pledged to introduce an Energy Independence Act to protect the UK from dictators, ensuring more energy is produced in Britain, with jobs and wealth staying in Britain. In a sign of long-term ambition, Starmer says Great British Energy - and the jobs and energy infrastructure it creates - will be “built to last” and “a legacy of the next Labour Government.”

Visiting a port in North Wales, Starmer will confirm that Great British Energy will invest in Britain’s growing floating offshore wind industry - a significant frontier technology that has potential to support the creation of tens of thousands of skilled jobs across Wales and Britain, including places such as South Wales and the Celtic Sea. The announcement on floating offshore wind marks the first major investment commitment that Great British Energy will make once established by an incoming UK Labour government. 

On their first joint visit as UK and Welsh Labour leaders, Starmer and Gething will pledge that a future UK Labour government will work with the Welsh Labour Government to invest in homegrown clean energy and “turbocharge jobs and growth” for Wales, with infrastructure and jobs that are built to last. The pair will be joined by Shadow Energy Ed Miliband and Shadow Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.

Starmer will argue today that the Conservative government in Westminster is leaving families exposed and undermining Britain’s economy by failing in their duty to deliver energy security. By opposing Labour’s plans for energy independence, Starmer says the Tories are “on the wrong side of the modern economy, the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the British people.”

The visit is the latest leg of Starmer’s missions tour, focused on the party’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. 

Starmer and Gething will confirm that Labour’s plans to switch on Great British Energy will invest in Welsh industries delivering 29,000 good jobs in Wales over the next decade. This includes protecting thousands of jobs in heavy industry as well as creating many more in Carbon Capture Storage and green hydrogen. Labour has already pledged a £2.5billion fund to support the steel industry’s transition to clean steel, protecting thousands of jobs in areas like Port Talbot, Newport and Cardiff. Labour’s plans will also upgrade ports around the coast of North and South Wales to seize the opportunities for clean energy in the Celtic Sea.

Wales has the potential to be a world leader in the development of new floating offshore wind technology, which a recent Government-backed taskforce says could unlock up to £43 billion of GVA to the UK economy and create around 30,000 jobs by 2050.

However, in recent years, floating offshore wind in Wales has been let down by a lack of support from the UK government. Not a single floating offshore wind project was successful at the government's last failed renewables auction.  The Port of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, saw its bid to act as a hub for developing offshore wind technology short-sightedly rejected by the government.  

Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said: 

“In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security.  After fourteen years of a Tory government kowtowing to fossil fuel dictators, Labour’s plan for energy independence would get Putin’s boot off our throat and power up communities across Britain. 

“Great British Energy will be built to last, and the wind farms, carbon capture and all the good jobs that go with it will be built to last, too. It will be a legacy of the next Labour Government. Here in Wales, the potential for offshore wind is enormous, and the UK Tory government is squandering it. With public investment through Great British Energy we can unlock billions more in private investment to turbocharge jobs and growth for Wales. 

“I’m excited to be working with Vaughan as we enter a new era for Wales. The Welsh people have the chance this year to elect a mission-driven UK Labour government that will work in true partnership with the Welsh Labour government, strengthening devolution and delivering a strong, secure Wales.

“Vaughan is passionate about helping young people plan ambitious futures in Wales and creating the green jobs needed to make it happen. Wales deserves a UK Labour Government with a plan that backs those ambitions.

“A key pillar of a modern British economy is secure, homegrown British energy - this is a basic duty of government and it’s frankly unpatriotic for the Tories to oppose it.”

Vaughan Gething MS, First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour, said:

“With new ambition, Wales can take its place at the frontier of a green jobs revolution that fuels new ambition and expands horizons.

“From groundbreaking tidal energy investment to the birth of Wales’ publicly owned energy company - Ynni Cymru - our Welsh Labour Government is building that future here in North Wales.

“The missing ingredient is a UK Government with the will to back Wales’ economic potential.

“Wales has been let down by 14 years of the Tories in Westminster. It is families in Wales, and right across the UK, who are paying the price for their inaction on energy bills and green investment. Choices made by this Tory government have squandered the green growth potential that is clearly there across our iconic coastal landscapes.”

Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy Secretary, said: 

“The Conservatives have let Wales down for too long - allowing good jobs to go overseas, and allowing foreign governments to profit off our own energy system whilst energy bills rocket.

“Labour will unlock Wales’ full industrial potential, supporting thousands of new jobs in Wales and ensuring that the region is the heart of a clean energy future for the entire country.

“This historic investment in Britain’s industrial heartlands will secure the next generation of high-quality jobs, which have been denied to communities in Wales for far too long.”

Ends 

Notes

Great British Energy will be given an ambitious initial capitalisation of £8.3 billion in the next Parliament, which includes the £3.3 billion for the party’s Local Power Plan, to invest in clean homegrown power generation that can cut bills for families, create jobs across the country, and end the UK’s energy insecurity under the Conservatives.

Launched in 2023, Ynni Cymru is the Welsh Government-backed public energy company where profits made in Wales will stay in Wales.

Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan

• Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan is the party’s landmark plan to grow the UK economy, cut energy bills once and for all, and make Britain energy independent. This historic investment in working people and their communities is the only way out of the high energy bills, energy insecurity, and the doom-loop of low growth, high taxes and crumbling public services under Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.

• Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan will:
• • Cut energy bills for good, saving families hundreds of pounds on their annual household energy costs.
  • Create up to half a million jobs in every part of the country, including our industrial heartlands and coastal communities.
  • Boost Britain’s energy independence by using our abundant natural resources to free ourselves from the manipulations of Vladimir Putin and petrostates.
  • Deliver climate leadership to protect our children from the threat and costs of the climate emergency.

Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan for Wales

• Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan will lead to more than 29,000 jobs in Wales over the next decade.
• Labour will switch on Great British Energy, to invest in clean energy like floating offshore wind and marine power in Wales, as well as build over a thousand local power projects. 
• Labour’s plans for clean power will save £300 off the average annual household energy bill in Wales by 2030. 
• Labour’s National Wealth Fund will safeguard the strength of industry in South Wales, protecting thousands of jobs in heavy industry as well as creating many more in CCS and green hydrogen, protecting thousands of jobs in the steel industry, in areas like Port Talbot, Newport and Cardiff. We will also upgrade ports around the coast of South Wales to seize the opportunities for clean energy in the Celtic Sea. 

Floating offshore wind:

• According to a recent study commissioned by the joint Government and industry ‘Floating Wind Taskforce’, developing 5GW of floating wind by 2030 and 34 GW by 2040 would unlock £14 - £18 billion of GVA to the UK economy and create 23,000 – 30,000 jobs.
• Ministers have the opportunity to unlock investment in three floating wind farms this year, in Scotland, north England and the Celtic Sea. But research from RenewableUK has found that budget restrictions will likely mean only one of these projects will go ahead, stifling investment in the emerging sector that would lead to new jobs as well as cheaper bills.
• The Crown Estate, which administers the seabed, estimates that up to 5,300 new jobs and up to £1.4 billion could be generated for the UK economy by fully realising the opportunities in South Wales and the Southwest England.

Methodology:

• Modelling by Ember shows that a clean power system would have an annual average household bill saving in 2030 compared to today (Cutting the bills: UK households profit from clean power | Ember (ember-climate.org)
• Jobs numbers drawn from internal workings based on BEIS and National Grid Future Energy Scenarios and from internal workings based on Construction Industry Training Board projections for the Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget, re-based and re-weighted in line with Labour’s Warm Homes Plan.
• Estimates for the number of homes upgraded through the Warm Homes Plan in English regions based on Labour analysis and DESNZ Fuel Poverty Statistics England 2024 (2023 data) and DLUCH Energy Performance Certificate data.
• Energy generation from Local Power Plan projects from Labour analysis.