The Green Transition: Labour Conference Special – "Move fast and build things!"
The Green Transition: Labour Conference Special – "Move fast and build things!"
Weekly analysis of the shift towards a new economy.
Dear Readers,
Happy Tuesday, and Happy Labour Party Conference to all those who celebrate.
We come to you bearing important news: the Green Transition will now be a start-of-the-week email, landing in your inboxes on Monday afternoons. Today, of course, is an exception – a Labour conference special sent out from the not-so-sunny North West.
We’re fresh out from the Prime Minister’s speech in Liverpool. Keir Starmer made some juicy, green transition-related announcements: the headquarters of GB Energy will be in Aberdeen; Nimby concerns over overground elecricity pylons will be sidelined (presumably much to the annoyance of Green Party opponents); the commitment to clean, renewable energy grid by 2030 was re-affirmed; and there was a new demand for the “return of the sausages”.
“If we want cheaper electricity”, Starmer said, “we need new pylons overground, otherwise the burden on taxpayers is too much”. That will be music to the ears of the Labour Yimby crowd, who are very active at this year’s slightly damp Labour-fest on the Mersey. The PM will be hoping to change the narrative after a torrid few weeks of headlines for the new government. Will it all be enough for a positive reset? The budget in October will be crucial. Word is that the Chancellor will use the opportunity to relax rules on capital spending, something Steve Coulter explored in a previous GT edition.
We wait with bated breath to see if the national renewal rhetoric is given the fiscal heft needed to become a reality.
The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has also been a conference favourite this year, and our very own Megan Kenyon has a report on his keynote speech below.
But first, a reminder of our offer: Subscribe to the New Statesman now – just £2 for 2 months of magazines. That’s 8 issues of the best current affairs weekly that money can buy – all for the price of a bottle of water in a conference cafe (yes, really).
Let’s get right into it.
Ed Miliband: “Move fast and build things”
At a recent drinks reception for climate journalists at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), one attendee described Ed Miliband and his team of fresh-faced ministers as the “happy department”. And it would seem that way – amid the gloomy rumblings spilling out from the Treasury and across Whitehall, DESNZ has unveiled a raft of shiny new policies. An end to the ban on onshore wind and the setting up of GB Energy have all happened within Labour’s first 100 days in power. As Miliband told the New Statesman in a recent interview: “we need to move fast and build things.”
So, it makes sense, then, that Miliband was exceedingly chipper when he sprung onto the stage in Liverpool on Monday to give his first conference speech as a cabinet minister since 2008. He was introduced by Charlie Wheel, a shop owner who voted Labour for the first time this summer due to his disdain at the Conservatives’ management at the energy crisis. “You did a great job, Charlie!” Miliband said, as he took over the stage.
He used his first conference speech to reiterate his move fast build things mantra. “Clean energy is the biggest economic opportunity of our time,” Miliband told delegates, “under this Labour government, industrial policy is back.” With echoes of Brexit-era politics, Miliband said with Britain under Labour “we can, we must, we will, take back control of our energy policy”.
Interestingly, Miliband used his speech to announce that Labour will bring in new minimum energy efficiency standards for both private and socially rented homes by 2030. This will see private landlords, housing associations and councils mandated to retrofit or repair cold, leaky housing stock. Any policy intended to lower energy bills – like this one – is shrewd in light of the cuts to winter fuel payment, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month.
It is obvious, then, that DESNEZ’s programme for government is politically useful. Labour needs to show it is committed to helping residents with skyrocketing energy costs, but in recent weeks it has struggled to rise to the occasion. Miliband’s speech and his announcement today could potentially change this. “The poorest people in our country often live in cold and draughty homes,” Miliband told the conference, “it’s a Tory legacy, it’s a Tory outrage.” He added: “warmer homes, lower bills, that’s the difference a Labour government makes”.
But this is an ambitious programme. The Chancellor warns frequently of a ‘tough choices’ budget. And the cost of living crisis will not be resolved over night. Will Miliband’s good mood last?
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