Lobby: May makes her mark

The first conference of the new government saw ministers seeking to establish their own agenda, post-Brexit and post-Cameron. Mathew Beech was there.

Behind the bright lights, glossy photos, snappy soundbites and sharp suits that make up a Conservative Party conference, prime minister Theresa May and her new government wanted to make their mark.

It is a government that came into being because of Brexit. But May is striving to give it an identity, and one that’s not just about delivering the UK’s EU exit. The tag line to this agenda is: “A country that works for everyone.”

It’s not clear what this means for the water sector, with neither shadow market opening nor competition being deemed relevant. The only nod was the adoption of the EU laws post-Brexit.

However, energy was a key talking point. Business and energy secretary Greg Clark made clear his delight at business, energy and industrial strategy being pulled together into a new department. “It makes sense,” he said on more than one occasion.

He talked about upgrading energy infrastructure, embracing the green revolution and building on regional strengths to help the UK hit its emissions reduction targets. This was something that carbon capture and storage (CCS) aficionados saw as a positive, pointing out that it would be a regional strength in the North East and for heavy industry.

The smart revolution, not only with smart meters but also smart grids and a fluid demand-supply relationship with demand-side management techniques and storage, was praised and promoted by the BEIS team, and others.

Behind this the rumour of intervention on energy supply – which is out of sync with the Conservative free market ideal – was bubbling away. Clark said the government “must act” to address the £2 billion consumer detriment highlighted by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

At the time of going to press May had not announced any moves from the government to intervene in the energy market, although there’s talk she wants to extend the price caps the CMA set out.

This could win favour with consumers, although the move is far from universally welcomed. British Gas and consumer organisation Which? were among those calling for the government “not to meddle” and allow the CMA remedies to take hold before taking action.

Overall, the feeling in the corridors of Birmingham’s ICC was that the government will talk tough, but stop at an intervention that represents a backstop if the CMA’s remedies fail to achieve the desired result.

Whatever the final announcement, it will undoubtedly be issued with the tag line “making energy work for everyone”. Whether it works for the sector, or has unintended consequences for consumers, remains to be seen.

From the floor – Mathew Beech

There’s more to politics than Brexit, except for the fact that all anyone is really interested in is Brexit.

In Birmingham, there was one word that reverberated around the conference centre and which could not be escaped: Brexit. Despite Theresa May’s insistence that the conference, and indeed the government, is about more than Brexit, it was the one thing that dominated. And many of the members were happy about it as well.

May has made clear that “Brexit means Brexit”, but what began to emerge is what this actually translates into for the UK. Initially, Brexit will mean nothing much in legislation terms. EU policies will just be copied and pasted into UK law.

The nature of Brexit – whether Westminster burns its bridges with Brussels or continues to remain close to our continental cousins – is crucial. Party members prefer the harder edged solution, although those in government dismiss the option being a binary hard or soft choice.

However, May hinted that a hard exit is likely when she dismissed talk of a “trade-off” over immigration and trading with Europe.
While this talk will please many Eurosceptic Tories, the Europhiles in the party remain concerned, and with May’s honeymoon as the new leader and prime minister over, keeping all the dissenting voices and differing views on side will present a tough challenge. Just ask Jeremy Corbyn.

Read Utility Week’s coverage from the Labour Party conference here.