White paper ‘simply kicks the can down the road’

Ed Miliband has accused the government of using its Energy White Paper to kick “down the road” key decisions about decarbonisation.

Responding to the House of Commons announcement of the white paper, the shadow business and energy secretary of state welcomed the thrust of the policy paper but raised concerns about the pace of implementation.

“The test of this white paper is not just good intentions, but whether it is a plan at the scale of ambition we need to create the jobs we need and deliver the fairness we need.

“While there are certainly elements in the white paper we welcome, I fear that too often the sound we hear when we read its pages is of the can being kicked down the road.”

He said the white paper’s policies to decarbonise electricity generation by 2050 are less ambitious than the CCC’s recommendation to achieve the same goal by 2035.

Miliband also said the white paper has “little to say” about onshore wind, solar and tidal power, with the latter only meriting a single mention in the document.

He said there was more “kicking into touch” in the white paper on hydrogen and nuclear. On nuclear, the former energy and climate change secretary of state said the government has not formed a view about how to pay for it despite years of consultation, while the government’s £240 million commitment to hydrogen lags far behind the billions of euros France and Germany have pledged to support their own country’s efforts to develop the low carbon gas.

He also said the government’s proposed £160 million investment in ports is welcome but a “drop in the ocean compared with the scale of need” required to support the ramped up deployment of offshore wind turbines.

Miliband said the white paper’s proposals on home heating fall “very short on fairness and delivery” and criticised the lack of a date or plan for the introduction of a zero-carbon standard for new homes, which Labour fixed at 2016 when it was in government.

On improving the energy efficiency of existing homes, he slammed ministers’ approach as “one-off announcements of resources with no proper plan,” pointing out that the cash allocated for Green Homes Grant vouchers is due to drop next year following the government’s decision to extend the scheme.

“Markets have a role in this transition, but the government must have a guiding hand.

“Whether it is a plan to decarbonise our homes, the future of the network infrastructure or the planned energy mix, the government must match their intentions by playing their proper role to deliver in a way that is fair, creates jobs and shows the requisite ambition. If the government do that, we will support them; but, on the basis of today’s effort, they still have a long way to go.”

Alan Brown, Scottish Nationalist Party MP and member of the BEIS select committee, criticised the white paper for being “a year and a half late”.

He said: “Much of it is wishlists and it still has the same outdated nuclear obsession.

“We cannot be serious about energy bills and value for money when it all comes to 35-year nuclear contracts.”

Alok Sharma, secretary of state for business and energy, replied that the government has shown a “great deal of ambition” on its proposals for a green industrial revolution.

He also said that there will be an opportunity through the contracts for difference (CfD) auction process next year to bring forward tidal power projects.

And Sharma defended the government’s continued commitment to nuclear power, describing it as “reliable, safe and not intermittent”.

“That is why it needs to be a part of the energy mix.”