On a visit to Salford yesterday, Ed Miliband said that the next Labour government would invest £60bn over 10 years retrofitting and insulating homes to cut bills for people and reduce dependency on imported gas.
“It’s about energy security, it’s about the cost of living and it’s about tackling the climate crisis,” he said, “with a green new deal."
Labour’s five-point plan on energy is:
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- Invest £6bn a year on retrofitting houses to make them more energy efficient
- Reverse the seven-year moratorium on onshore wind farms to double onshore wind capacity to 30GW by 2030
- Almost double offshore wind targets by 2035 to 75GW
- Press on with all forms of renewable power
- End the delay on new nuclear power plants.
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) likes the sound of it. FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: “The FMB is supportive of the Labour Party’s commitment to initiate an ‘energy efficiency revolution to insulate 19 million homes’. With energy prices set to push the cost of living into unsustainable territory for many UK households, now is the time to take action to reduce households’ vulnerability to these price increases and reduce the UK’s overall carbon emmisions. Local builders want to deliver green upgrades, but they require long-term certainty from government that encourages customers to upgrade their homes.”
He added: “The construction industry has been calling for a national retrofit strategy to incentivise energy efficient upgrades to our existing homes. Any future plans to make our homes greener and more energy efficient must be long-term, so that consumers and builders alike have confidence in upgrade schemes. A national retrofit strategy would help lower energy bills for consumers and create an economic boost for builders.”
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