Labour reveals the eye watering cost to businesses of the
Conservatives failure on energy security. In 2021, industrial
energy prices in the UK were a staggering 62 per cent higher than
the international average. Prices were 72 per cent higher than
when the Tories took power in 2010.
Tory failure has landed British business with a £3.5 billion
energy premium compared to international counterparts, even
before the invasion of Ukraine pushed energy prices up even
further.
Their ban on onshore wind has resulted in 7GW of lost onshore
wind capacity since 2015. Conservative failure on energy has put
British business on the backfoot, resulting in significant job
losses, with 11,000 jobs lost in energy-intensive industries
since 2015.
Business leaders have warned that energy costs are making Britain
uncompetitive with Nissan UK the leading car manufacturer
warning, “energy costs have been particularly impactful on the
UK’s international competitiveness for automotive manufacturing,
especially with regard to electricity prices.”
Under the Tories, the UK is failing to reap the economic benefits
of our clean energy sources. The Conservative Party’s senseless
ban on onshore wind is holding us back, with Britain missing out
on thousands of jobs - and the Government is forfeiting the
opportunity to export skills and products that are essential in
the path towards net zero.
Britain’s lack of Industrial Strategy leaves British industry
exposed as international competitors rush ahead to secure the
jobs of the future. Labour have pledged to back British business
by investing in renewable energy, hydrogen, carbon capture and
nuclear power to make Britain a clean energy superpower and
provide industry with access to secure low cost energy.
Labour would reverse the ban, so the British people can reap the
benefits of cleaner, cheaper power. Labour’s plans to expand
clean power are part of Keir Starmer’s commitment to make the UK
a world-leading clean energy superpower by 2030, which would cut
bills by £93bn for British families.
A Labour Government would work with local authorities across the
country to unleash the power of clean energy, ending the
Conservatives’ draconian ban imposed from Whitehall, which is
costing families and businesses thousands of pounds on their
bills.
, Labour’s Shadow
Business Secretary, said:
“Businesses are feeling the impacts of Conservative failure in
higher energy prices. Britain is a brilliant place to start and
grow a business but energy costs are holding firms back,
impacting on investment and pushing prices up.
“Labour has a plan to lower industrial energy costs for good,
ensuring we keep good jobs in our industrial heartlands for
decades to come. Labour’s modern Industrial Strategy will give
renewed confidence to industry that they have a government on
their side.”
Ends
Notes
In 2021, industrial users spent £9.2 billion on electricity,
according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s
Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES): Source
According to the Department for Energy Security’s International
energy price comparison statistics, in 2021, the average
industrial electricity price in the UK was 13.05p/kWh, 62 per
cent higher than the IEA median. In 2010, the price was just
7.57p/kWh, just 8 per cent higher than the IEA median.
Had the UK price of industrial electricity been at the
international median level, industrial users would have spent
£3.5bn less on their electricity.
Nissan UK provided evidence to the BEIS Select Committee:https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/118626/pdf/
