PM: Don’t give up on green energy
Johnson insists UK can still pursue net zero while taking the sting out of heating bills
BORIS JOHNSON will this week say that Britain must not give up on investing in green energy in favour of shortterm fixes to tackle the cost of living crisis.
In a farewell message to safeguard his legacy, the Prime Minister will say Britain is in a strong position to tackle the energy crises of the future and can pursue net zero at the same time as supporting those struggling with their heating costs.
His comments will be seen as a direct plea to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to maintain his ambition to build a nuclear reactor every year and to secure a fivefold increase in offshore wind power by 2030, accounting for almost half the UK’S total electricity consumption.
It will be seen as particularly relevant to Ms Truss who has pledged to suspend green levies on energy bills and insisted that, while backing the existing target of reaching net zero by 2050, it must be done “in a way that doesn’t harm businesses or consumers”.
Ms Truss, the favourite to become prime minister on Sept 6, is also considering a potential 5 per cent cut in VAT and raising the personal tax allowance threshold to help offset the cost of higher energy bills.
Mr Johnson’s intervention will come as he focuses on his domestic achievements after last week’s trip to Ukraine where he underlined the need for the new Cabinet to maintain the UK’S support for president Volodymyr Zelensky in face of the Russian invasion.
He will make the comments amid a continuing backlash among Tory Party members over Mr Johnson’s removal as Prime Minister, with suggestions that many have “seller’s remorse”.
A Yougov poll last week showed that if the Conservative leadership election were a three-way fight, Mr Johnson would get twice as many votes among Tory members as either of his rivals. Mr Johnson polled 46 per cent versus Ms Truss on 24 per cent and Mr Sunak on 23 per cent. There is also nervousness within the Tory ranks that the tensions exposed by the leadership race could continue into the new prime minister’s premiership.
A Government source said: “Boris is passionate about the energy strategy.
“There is a desire to say something this week about how everything we have done has kept us in a much better position in the medium and long term, through investing in nuclear and wind.
“All of the work in renewable energy will make sure that in the medium and long term we will be more self-reliant and that will ease costs for consumers.
“Throughout the years, from COP 26 to the energy strategy and now with the cost of living challenges, it’s a real priority. We have the domestic infrastructure and technology to be more resilient and self reliant to manage these challenges.
‘Clearly we need to help people cope with bills but there is an even bigger need for homegrown energy’
We have shown over the course of this year that we can both focus on helping people in the immediate future but also invest for the medium and long term future so we are not compromised like this again.
“Clearly we need to help people cope with bills this winter but there is an even bigger need to address supply side and ensure we have homegrown affordable energy for people and businesses as soon as we can. Too many Governments have ducked this.”
A key test will come with the decision to sign off on investment in the £20billion Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast, which Mr Johnson is understood to back.
There are, however, divisions among leading supporters of Ms Truss who are expected to hold key positions in her Cabinet.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, who is tipped to become her Chancellor, said last week that the Government should “crack on with
more nuclear power stations”. He has overseen the Future Nuclear Fund to entice developers to invest billions. However, Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and a Truss ally, warned in a letter to Mr Johnson, leaked to a Sunday newspaper, that the cost of Sizewell C could have serious economic consequences.
He said the £20 billion bill was “sufficient to materially affect spending and fiscal choices for an incoming government, especially in the context of wider pressures on the public finances”.
Yesterday, in an article in The Mail on Sunday, Mr Johnson sought to frame the debate, saying the Government would be able to deliver not only a “huge” package of support for struggling families but also massive expansion of renewable energy.
“With every new wind farm we build offshore, with every new nuclear project we approve, we strengthen our strategic position. We become less vulnerable to the vagaries of the global gas price and less vulnerable to Vladimir Putin’s pressure,” he wrote.
“It is this government that has reversed the apathy of decades and greenlighted new nuclear plants. We are going to build a new reactor every year and will have 50 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.”