McDonnell backs renewable power sources

Shadow chancellor pledges the UK will become a world leader in “decarbonising our economy”

John McDonnell has pledged that a future Labour government’s new breed of public-owned energy supply will be based on renewable power sources.  

In his keynote speech at the Labour Party annual conference today, the shadow chancellor of the exchequer said that the recent storms and flooding over recent months had been an “environmental wake up call”.

“Labour will ensure that we become world leaders in decarbonising our economy. With a publically owned energy supply based on alternative energy sources,” he said, confirming that Labour would commit to the construction of the Swansea Tidal Bay Lagoon. 

The shadow chancellor also reiterated Labour’s manifesto commitment to bring utilities back into public ownership.

“Building an economy for the many also means bringing ownership and control of the utilities and key services into the hands of the people who use and work in them. Rail, water, energy, Royal Mail- we’re taking them back.”

McDonnell’s commitment to renewable generation follows shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead’s comments at a conference fringe meeting last night that municipal power companies would be able to generate, transmit and supply energy.

Responding to McDonnell’s renewed commitment to take utilities back into public ownership, Water UK chief executive Michael Roberts said that the water industry had come a long way since privatisation.

He said: “It now has an excellent record on water quality, investment and customer service – something it didn’t have when English water services were run by the government. Taking the water industry back to the 1970s is not what customers need, and threatens to see the return of the industry being starved of funds by a cash-strapped government.”