Emily Bird
Change. That is the promise at the heart of Labour’s election campaign. After 14 years, the public’s wounds need proper treatment, and their flagship policy, Great British Energy, hopes to solve a whole host of problems at once, reintroducing long-term thinking back to politics.
For most of the public, facing inflation, housing shortages and benefit cuts, change is currently thought of on a short-term scale. Their survival needs an immediate and thorough solution – so environmental policy may not be high on their list of priorities. Growing up in a low-income household, I know firsthand the worries that stop environmental policy from feeling like the most pressing issue. For households like ours, the word ‘future’ concerns making it to the end of the week, not the end of the century.
As a result, Labour’s proposed Great British Energy scheme is far more than just an answer to environmental instability. Rather than just appealing to the environmentalist, the scheme hinges on public ownership and reducing energy bills for the average voter. But does this do enough to address poverty in the UK? Or is it just more of the ‘sticker-plaster’ gimmicks Labour has accused the Conservatives of crafting?
What is Great British Energy?
“Much of the criticism directed at Starmer’s Labour is its complacency among the true left.”
Released in September 2023, Labour’s GB Energy scheme will provide us with a publicly-owned, clean energy company. The main aims of the scheme are to provide 100 per cent clean power by 2030, create thousands of good local jobs, cut energy bills for good, save £93 billion for UK households and bring independence to UK energy.
The outcome of the scheme, Labour stated they would: “Build an energy system for the future, run for the British people”. While the environmentalist aims behind the scheme sound ideal, the message is obscured behind the rhetoric of ‘British energy for British people’. This isn’t that dissimilar to the nationalist messaging propagated by Reform UK.
Much of the criticism directed at Starmer’s Labour is its complacency among the true left. While job creation, specifically in the North, ought to be at the centre of this campaign, instead, the plan panders to the more nationalist of voters, for whom Reform might be a step too far, and the Conservatives… need I say more?
Plugging the Gaps
According to a Parliamentary Research Briefing on domestic energy prices, the average value of bills in 2023 was £2,560, up a whopping £1,260 in 2021. What are the Conservatives offering to help? On their “clear plan for a secure future” (which visually hurts to look at), you just have plans to abolish national insurance, see the Rwanda plan through and raise defence spending. As well as only appealing to the jingoists and short-term tax-critical, energy and climate are nowhere to be seen.
“Yes, this scheme will create jobs and reduce household energy bills for good, but it won’t happen overnight.”
It’s also notable that, in the last fourteen years, Britain’s North-South divide has deepened considerably. Under Labour’s GB Energy plan, however, the stone may hit another bird and reconcile that gap. One of the most important elements of the scheme will be the return of jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands and coastlines, hit the hardest by Thatcher’s privatisations and industry closures in 1984. The scheme plans to bring around 500,000 jobs to these regions, bringing a much-needed sense of stability to the areas hit the hardest under the Tories.
To many of us, environmental policies might show disregard for those struggling the most. For many such families, our country’s core issues are economic, and sustainable energy is a luxury that only the most financially stable can afford to consider. But one impactful change the scheme will bring is cutting energy bills across the board. Labour claims this program will take hundreds of pounds off annual household energy bills for families and businesses. It will also likely damage the power of the big energy companies accused of gouging the British public. That’s worth paying attention to.
Looking for Long-Term Change
With this said, it all comes back to the ‘F’ word: Future.
Yes, this scheme will create jobs and reduce household energy bills for good, but it won’t happen overnight. Although Rachel Reeves claims ‘stability is change‘, we still must have shorter-term solutions to keep the poorest families interested. For many of these families, they feel politics has failed them. Consequently, voter turnout within these communities, particularly in the North, is declining. This is an immediate problem. It’s also not clear how low-income families will survive until any of the renewable energy centres are built.
Great British Energy may be Britain’s long-term answer to its climate, economic and geographic problems. But while the infrastructure is being built, how do we survive? Labour also need additional short-term emergency policies. Even if just to stop impoverished families from falling into the clutches of Reform UK over the next five years.
Featured image courtesy of Keir Starmer on Flickr. No changes have been made to this image. Image license here.
embi98
I’m a modern languages graduate, currently completing an MA in Medieval Studies. I enjoy writing about politics, travel and languages and I hope you enjoy the reads!