Corbyn says going public will tackle climate change

RETURNING Britain’s energy system to public ownership is the best way of going green, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has insisted.

He told a party conference on alternative models of ownership that Labour needs to take a radical approach to battling climate change.

Mr Corbyn said: “The greenest energy is usually the most local. But people have been queuing up for years to connect renewable energy to the national grid.

“With the national grid in public hands, we can put tackling climate change at the heart of our energy system. To go green, we must take control of our energy.”

The Labour leader told the London gathering that the UK should follow a global tide of public ownership.

“We can put Britain at the forefront of the wave of change across the world in favour of public, democratic ownership and control of our services and utilities.”

The Labour leader promised a safety net for workers who lose out under energy transition.

“Our energy system needs to change, but it cannot be workers who pay the price.

“So just as the US GI Bill gave education, housing and income support to every unemployed veteran return- ing from the Second World War, the next Labour government will guarantee that if anyone is displaced by energy transition they will be offered retraining, a new job on equivalent terms and conditions, covered by collective agreements, and fully supported in their housing and income needs through transition.”