Keir Starmer unveils the future of Great British Energy and vows to get started within months

Keir Starmer has today unveiled the future of Labour's Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company that will help to “turn the page” on the cost of living crisis by driving down energy bills.

Launching the logo and website for Great British Energy, Keir Starmer will vow that if a Labour government is elected on July 4, it will get working within months to build clean power across the United Kingdom.  

The unveiling comes as Labour Leader Keir Starmer joins Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar to launch Scotland's first steps for change – Labour's doorstep offer to the people of Scotland.

Speaking at the launch in Scotland, Keir Starmer will set out Labour's plan to invest in homegrown power, saying that “family financial security depends on energy security.”

Labour pledges that Great British Energy will cut energy bills for good, as families face threat of £900 annual energy price spikes under Tories.

Headquartered in Scotland, Great British Energy's early investments will include wind and solar projects in communities up and down the country as well as making Scotland a world-leader in cutting edge technologies such as floating offshore wind, hydrogen, and CCS.

It will be funded by asking the big oil and gas companies to pay their fair share through a proper windfall tax, so the proceeds can be invested in the future of the country.

Tory failure on clean homegrown energy over fourteen years has meant families have seen prices rise more than twice as fast as the European average. We have been left exposed to fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators and rogue states. 

The Office of Budget Responsibility recently warned that if the UK remains dependent on international energy markets, families and the taxpayer might have to pay similar sums again to the previous crisis, and add significantly to our national debt.  

In the last two years, a typical family paid £1,880 more than if prices had stayed at their previous levels. The government also had to spend £94 billion of taxpayers' money to energy companies making record profits. 

Alongside Great British Energy, Labour's six steps for change in Scotland include delivering economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, making work pay, creating jobs and opportunities for young people, and maximising Scotland's influence.

Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, 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.” 

Ed Miliband, Labour's Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, said: 

“Great British Energy will kickstart 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.” 

Ends

Notes 

The website will be live from 2230 - https://great-british-energy.org.uk/

1 – The Tories left Britain exposed by failing to secure our energy.  

·         The Conservatives have blocked clean, homegrown power, holding back efforts to build cheaper and more secure forms of energy. 

·         Onshore wind: The Tory onshore wind ban has raised bills by £180 a year for every family in England and resulted in 7GW of lost capacity since 2015. (https://x.com/DrSimEvans/status/1650848491453792260)  

·         Warm homes: In 2013 the coalition government cut energy efficiency programmes, causing insulation rates to fall by 92 per cent. 9 million households are paying hundreds more in energy bills as a result. (https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2023-progress-report-to-parliament/) 

·         Nuclear: The last Labour Government gave the go-ahead for new sites in 2009, but under the Tories none are up and running, denying us clean, reliable power. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11564152) 

·         Gas storage: The choice to close Rough gas storage – before being forced to reopen it years later – has cost Britain £1.7 billion across last year and this year. 

·         Offshore wind: The Conservatives crashed the offshore wind market with last year's failed Contracts for Difference auction, costing billpayers £1bn a year. https://twitter.com/ECIU_UK/status/1699754288287830310 

2- British families have paid an additional £1880 on their energy bills over the last two years. 

·         A dual fuel household with typical levels of consumption on the direct debit price cap/Energy Price Guarantee would have paid £1,880 more between April 2022 and March 2024 than if prices and standing charges had remained at their April 2021 to March 2022 levels. (Figures from House of Commons Library.) This is an average of £940 more per year for a typical household. 

3 – The OBR has warned that this could happen again. 

·         The Office of Budget Responsibility warns that as long as we remain dependent on international energy markets, we risk similar shocks that could cost taxpayers 2-3% of GDP per year, and that recurring gas price spikes could add 13% of GDP to the national debt by 2050. 2-3% of GDP is £45-68bn. Source: https://obr.uk/frs/fiscal-risks-and-sustainability-july-2023/  

·         With those future energy shocks, families could face up to £940 annual spike in additional energy costs if the UK faces the sort of price spikes in the second half of the decade that rocked the country in the first half. 

4 - Rishi Sunak has no plan to make Britain energy secure. 

·         In a civil service memo released as part of the recent High Court climate case, officials warned in 2023 that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had shown fossil fuels are an ‘insecure, high-risk energy source' and that the clean energy transition will ‘help to mitigate fiscal shocks caused by a reliance' on them. Source: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/high-court-judgment-governments-climate-plan 

·         The Climate Change Committee and National Audit Office say Rishi Sunak doesn't have a plan to deliver his 2035 clean power target. Sources: https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Progress-in-reducing-UK-emissions-2023-Report-to-Parliament-1.pdf, https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/decarbonising-the-power-sector/ 

5 – Only Labour has a plan to cut bills for families.   

·         As a first step Labour will launch Great British Energy to take back control of our energy supply producing cheaper power for our country, and ensuring that profits go back into our communities. 

·         Headquartered in Scotland, Great British Energy will invest in cheap, clean, homegrown energy, to cut bills for families, and ensure that jobs and supply chains are built here in the UK, rebuilding the strength of British industry.  

·         It will have an initial capitalisation of £8.3 billion over a Parliament, paid for by a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants.  

·         The £3 billion GB Energy local power plan alone will generate 8GW of clean power within five years, the equivalent to…

·         Great British Energy is part of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030- helping families save £300 per year off their energy bills, boosting our energy independence, and creating 650,000 good jobs.