Keir Starmer had to backtrack yesterday after laying out Labor’s plan to make Britain greener by the end of the decade.
He wants to counter Tory tax cuts by investing in renewable energy to boost growth, claiming the UK could have carbon-free electricity as early as 2030.
But after the policy came under scrutiny, the Labor leader had to admit that fossil fuels may still need to be used as a backup to supply Britain’s power.
Keir Starmer had to backtrack yesterday after charting Labor’s plan to turn Britain green by the end of the decade.
He said the nation must double its onshore wind generation, triple solar and quadruple offshore wind capacity and continue to use nuclear power to achieve the goal.
Sir Keir claimed it would cut household fuel bills, tackle climate change and prevent Britain from being at the mercy of global markets and dictators like Vladimir Putin.
But he faced repeated questions from journalists whether, if his party won the 2024 general election, his “green growth plan” could be implemented in just a few years.
Industry leaders also said it was unfair not to be candid about the huge costs involved in the plan.
When asked ‘how on earth would he achieve the goal’, Sir Keir admitted: ‘It will be difficult, but the price here is enormous, namely lower prices for people on the bills they are going to pay.’
BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg pointed out that wind power in Britain was only operating at 15 per cent of capacity on Friday because the weather was too calm, asking him: ‘How do you keep the lights on when you don’t have fossil fuels? to fall back on?’
He replied that his goal was ‘absolutely achievable’ and added: ‘Well you would always have a transition with oil and gas, of course you would, but we have to have the ambition to get rid of fossil fuels. when it comes down to it. to our power.
“This is a plan that can be delivered. It’s a plan that will drive down our prices.’
In an interview with the Labor leader, BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg pointed out that wind power in Britain was only operating at 15 percent of its capacity.
When asked if he was adamant that there would be no fossil fuel dependency by 2030, the Labor leader admitted: “Well, it could be there as a fallback.
‘But the plan is 2030 for all our clean electricity.’
The goal of ending carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2030 is more radical than the government’s policy of reaching net zero across the economy by 2050, with some commentators questioning whether this was feasible given current restrictions on the storage of renewable energy.
Angela Knight, former chief executive of the Energy UK trade association, told GB News: ‘The key questions are these: how much will it cost, who will pay for it and have we actually installed the technology?
When journalists asked him ‘how on earth would he achieve the goal’, Sir Keir admitted: ‘It will be difficult, but the price here is huge, namely lower prices for people on the bills they are going to pay.’ He is pictured here at the Labor Party Conference with Deputy Leader Angela Rayner
“Right now I think even the path we’re taking seems quite aggressive, and to bring it to the end of this decade is probably one of those things politicians say hastily and take their time to regret.”
She continued: ‘We can go ahead and build all kinds of extra wind farms, both onshore and offshore, but of course the wind doesn’t always blow.
“So what are you going to do for the times when the wind isn’t blowing and your renewable energy is used intermittently?
“Then you have to have a reliable backup, and if you want to have a reliable backup, the only way we can do it low-carbon is to build more nuclear power.
‘You certainly can’t do all of that in the next seven or eight years and the costs will be very high indeed.
“That means we’re going to pay for it in the form of taxes, or we’re going to pay our household and industrial bills, or we’re going to do both.
“To me, it’s unfair not to be realistic, and it’s unfair not to charge for how we pay for it, on any of these statements.”