Conservatives: Response to Ed Miliband’s morning round

Claire Coutinho MP, Shadow Energy Secretary said:

“Labour spent the election promising families that GB Energy would cut their bills by £300. They're not saying that anymore.

“Now they're saying bills may go up… but the truth is even worse. Labour's plans for energy are going to mean huge costs for British families.

“The Labour Government must be honest with the public and admit their energy company will not generate energy and will not bring bills down. Instead they are using taxpayer money to subsidise the riskiest parts of multi million pound energy companies' investments.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

This morning, the Energy Secretary refused to GB Energy would deliver £300 in savings:

• Ed Miliband could not say how when bills will be lower because of GB Energy. STUDIO: ‘I totally understand that. But that's that's a slightly different answer to the question I asked which was will this can you guarantee? I'm not going to say I'm not in a position to guarantee anything, but are you in a position this morning to guarantee that by doing this, we will have a fall in our energy bills?' MILIBAND: ‘It's certainly the case that bills will be lower than they would otherwise be in a world of volatile fossil fuel prices, but that is the key point that this this is an insurance policy, a protection against the kind of price spikes the fossil fuels cause of' (Times Radio, 25 July 2024, archived).

• Ed Miliband admitted Labour's GB Energy will not deliver savings until 2030. STUDIO: ‘So when will Great British energy start making money?' MILIBAND: ‘Well, it's got to go through the House of Commons, because we have to go through a legislative process which will happen in the next few months. And we've set aside 8.3 billion to invest in new, for example, wind farms, solar projects and so on. As those get built, it will start generating a return. So it will take time. It's not going to happen overnight, but we think it is absolutely the right thing to do because all of the evidence from the past, if you think about a company like Orsted, the Danish state owned company, about 30 years ago, they began the process of investing in wind power, which was then seen as a kind of wacky idea. They are now generating big returns for the taxpayer in Denmark. This is a deliberately long term policy, because we think it is the right thing for the country and reflects the mandate on which we were elected' STUDIO: ‘Yeah, you'll understand that if people see the money you're talking about investing in it, it doesn't seem like an unreasonable question to ask of you, when do we see the return? When does it make profit? You say you've seen examples elsewhere in the world. So I mean, can you be any more? I mean, you don't seem to have answered that at all' MILIBAND: ‘Definitely look within the lifetime of this Parliament. It will start generating returns' STUDIO: ‘Does that mean profit?' MILIBAND: ‘Yes it does. Yeah, absolutely' (BBC News, 25 July 2024, archived).

This morning, the Energy Secretary said Labour's plans would not stop bills from rising this autumn

Ed Miliband said it is ‘true that independent forecasts suggests that bills pay rise. STUDIO: ‘I'm trying to read between the lines here, which is not very useful, really. Am I hearing that the bills are going to go up before they go down?' MILIBAND: ‘Nope. Definitely that's not the case. No, I mean not because of our plans. It is true that independent forecasts suggest that bills may rise in the autumn, but that's because we are exposed to gas prices. And this is the whole point of what we are trying to do, because unless we get off that dependence on fossil fuels, we won't reduce bills' (BBC News, 25 July 2024, archived).

During the campaign, Labour repeatedly said GB Energy will deliver £300 in savings for consumers:  

• Steve Reed said Labour could cut energy bills by £300. REED: ‘If we take back control of our own energy in the way that Labour's proposing investing in wind, wave, solar, nuclear, we can control energy supplies in this country, but crucially, we can cut bills by an average of £300 a year every year right the way, as far as you can see into the future' (GB News, 1 July 2024, archived).

• Pat McFadden admitted that the claimed £300 energy saving under Labour was an estimate.STUDIO: ‘But are you guaranteeing to people that they will save £300? Because when you look at the workings, it doesn't look like you can give that guarantee' MCFADDEN: ‘That's an estimate based on current prices compared to what we can get to through generation through renewables' (BBC 1, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, 30 June 2024, archived).

• Pat McFadden said that Labour's estimate of a £300 bill saving was based on current energy prices.STUDIO: ‘But are you guaranteeing to people that they will save £300? Because when you look at the workings, it doesn't look like you can give that guarantee' MCFADDEN: ‘That's an estimate based on current prices compared to what we can get to through generation through renewables' (BBC 1, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, 30 June 2024, archived).

• Peter Kyle said energy bills will fall by up to £300. STUDIO: ‘You're in Scotland to talk about setting up Great British Energy… Now, the question everybody wants to know, very simply, is how much cheaper? Will British household energies, energy bills be under Labour? 10 per cent, 20 per cent? What's the number?' KYLE: ‘Well I can tell you directly…We believe by the end of this Parliament that the utility bills energy bills will fall by up to £300' (ITV Good Morning Britain, 31 May 2024, archived).

• Keir Starmer said Labour's ‘first step' is to set up Great British Energy to save families ‘up to £300 a year'. ‘Labour's first step to set up Great British Energy will save families up to £300 a year off their energy bills. A vote for Labour on Thursday 4 July is a vote for change and to make you better off' (Keir Starmer, Twitter, 19 June 2024, link).

• Sarah Jones said bills will go down by £300 via GB energy. STUDIO: ‘Just very briefly, a great British Energy, the company that Labour want to set up. Can you sit here today and say we'll be paid? Less for our energy. If you win the election. Yes' JONES: ‘Yes' STUDIO: ‘Categorically?' JONES: ‘Yes. Will go down in the next Parliament by about £300' (BBC Politics Live, 24 May 2024, archived).