Labour to spend £60bn on household energy programme
The Labour party this morning announced a £60bn programme of housing improvements designed to cut carbon emissions 10 per cent by 2030.
The initiative, which is the largest upgrade of UK households since the post-war reconstruction, will create 450,000 jobs by installing energy saving measures in almost all of the UK’s 27m homes.
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Labour estimate that the measures will bring energy bills for 9.6m low income households down by an average of £417 a year.
They will also prevent 1,500 deaths from cold weather and up to 560,000 cases of asthma due to a reduction in damp.
This comes on the back of Friday evening’s announcement that all new homes would be made carbon neutral in the next three years, saving residents £200 a year in energy bills.
Labour said they would introduce a “zero carbon standard” through triple-glazing, more efficient insulation, and non-gas boilers.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said that the £60bn upfront investment would be taken from Labour’s £250bn national transformation fund.
She stressed that there would be no upfront cost for participants in the scheme. Those with low incomes would be able to take out a grant to pay for the improvements, whereas those better off could apply for an interest free loan.
In a statement, she said: “Labour will offer every household in the UK the chance to bring the future into their homes – upgrading the fabric of their homes with insulation and cutting edge heating systems – tackling both climate change and extortionate bills.
“This project will also create hundreds of thousands of good unionised construction jobs, bringing good work back to areas of the UK the Tories abandoned long ago.”
A Conservative party statement said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s plans would wreck the economy, putting up bills for hardworking families – and preventing any real progress on climate change.
“Tackling climate change is vital but independent experts and even Labour’s own unions say their promises don’t stack up.
“Only Boris Johnson and the Conservatives have a proper plan to continue reducing carbon emissions faster than any other G20 country.”
On 24 October senior energy industry figures cast doubt on a Labour-commissioned report setting out the “most radical feasible pathway” to reach zero-carbon by 2030.
The report said that the move would require £150bn in up-front capital, followed by investment of 2 per cent each year.
Read more: Energy industry questions Labour’s exceedingly ambitious zero carbon plan
Neil Cornelius, managing director of consultancy Berkeley Research Group, said: “The proposals are a mix of those which are clearly economically beneficial and those of questionable economic benefit.
“I do not believe that the activities outlined would not represent a cost increase for the energy system and this cost would have to be met by someone. I have doubts about the economics presented.
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