Miliband hails carbon capture plans as essential if UK is to ‘decarbonise without deindustrialising’
Energy minister Ed Miliband has described the government’s plans for carbon capture and storage as “exciting” and the beginning of a new era for Britain.
Miliband said the new plans were “essential if we are to decarbonise without deindustrialising”, and were exciting because it showed that the new Labour government is “willing to invest in the future of Britain”.
He told listeners of the Radio 4 Today programme that “create good jobs of the future, as the good jobs used to exist in coal” and help bring about energy security.
Asked about critics who say carbon capture is a misstep, and the country should be getting out of the fossil fuel market altogether, he said that in order to head towards net zero, “we need all the technologies at our disposal,” and said the country was heading for “the biggest change in 200 years in the way we run our economy.”
Miliband said:
The backbone of our system will be renewables, right? That is the absolute backbone of our system. You will also have nuclear as part of the energy mix, long duration storage, batteries. But it is also important to have a strategic reserve.
Key events
Ed Miliband: current situation over assisted dying is ‘cruel’
Energy minister Ed Miliband has said that he backs a change in the law to allow assisted dying in Englad and Wales, and that the current situation is “cruel”.
He told viewers of ITV’s Good Morning Britain:
I will be voting for the assisted dying Bill. Obviously it will be a free vote for Members of Parliament. These are very complex and difficult issues and there are very respectable views on both sides.
For my part, I know there are people who are in the late stages of terminal illnesses, and I think the current situation is rather cruel actually.
I think people having control over their own life and their own death is something that is the right thing to do.
Obviously there have to be proper safeguards and I understand the concerns of some people on these issues, but my personal view will to be vote in favour of this Bill.
He made very similar points when appearing on BBC Breakfast as part of the morning media round. You can watch the clip here:
SNP deputy Westminster leader Pete Wishart has urged chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the “bedroom tax” at this month’s budget.
PA media reports that research from the House of Commons library, commissioned by the SNP, shows that just shy of 100,000 households in Scotland are affected by the bedroom tax, which sees cash deducted from benefits if the recipient has a spare room in their home.
Wishart said:
Thousands of low-income families across Scotland and the UK are being pushed into poverty by punitive Labour government policies like the bedroom tax.
Voters in Scotland were promised change. She must use the UK budget for a total reset, including by abolishing the bedroom tax without further delay.
This is a cruel policy that punishes the poorest households simply for living in their family homes – and it disproportionately affects Scotland.
It’s shameful that the Labour government made the political choice to keep it in place.
Another thing we are expecting today is the Government decision on whether to go ahead with a new £9bn road crossing between Kent and Sussex is due to be announced on Friday, PA Media reports.
Work on the project has been ongoing since 2009, and more than £800 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on planning. It would connect the A2 and M2 in Kent to the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 2.6-mile long tunnel under the Thames, which would be the UK’s longest road tunnel.
It is aiming to start construction in 2026, with the road opening in 2032.
Thurrock Council in Essex has consistently opposed the project, citing negative economic, social and environmental impacts, but the leader of Kent’s Dartford Borough Council is in favour of the scheme.
Local campaigners Thames Crossing Action Group claim the crossing would be “hugely destructive and harmful”, and a waste of money.
One of the two carbon capture and storage (CCS) clusters that the government is investing in is in Teesside in north east England, and Ben Houchen, mayor of the Tees Valley, has said it “is a monumental day for Teesside and my proudest achievement as mayor.”
He said it would bring “Thousands of jobs [and] billions of pounds of investment” and described it on social media as a “generational opportunity”.
After 7 years of hard work on this Carbon Capture Project , this is a monumental day for Teesside and my proudest achievement as Mayor.
Thousands of jobs. Billions of pounds of Investment. Generational opportunity. @TeesworksUK is becoming the new ICI. https://t.co/6HDBZetk6E
— Ben Houchen (@BenHouchen) October 4, 2024
Houchen, the Conservative mayor of the region, who was elected in 2017, told the Northern Echo “I want to thank the Government for giving the green light to this project.”
While we are talking about the environment, my colleague Damian Carrington, our environment editor, has just published this article, looking at a study in which researchers found that people are significantly more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint if they see political leaders doing the same.
Ed Miliband concedes government needs to do more to persuade people to switch to EVs
Energy minister Ed Miliband has conceded that the government needs to do more to persuade people to switch to EVs, after plans were criticised by industry bosses.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, the energy minister said:
There’s two particular problems that I would identify. The first problem is that the last government pushed the date back to 2035, and that was part of what has screwed the market a bit, and that’s why we are clear about the 2030 phase out date for new petrol and diesel vehicles.
The second thing that’s got to be done, and actually, this is the biggest thing, is to get this charging infrastructure right. Because I think one of the worries people have is, is the charging infrastructure going to be there? Am I going to be ripped off in the charging infrastructure?
Miliband went on to say that “we’re working on a plan with across government to make sure that we have the charging infrastructure in place that we need.”
Arguing that “things are only going in one direction, which is towards EVs” he said the country could either “go slowly, lose that competitivity, and not meet our climate targets, or we can do the right thing and drive forward with this.”
Ed Miliband boasts of new government’s drive towards renewable energy
Speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme, energy minister Ed Miliband has boasted that the new Labour government has already set an impressive track record on renewable energy, and said they had been “driving forward” with it since coming to office.
He told listeners:
We’ve been driving forward with renewables since we came into office. We overturned the onshore wind ban. We consented to more solar in less than three months than the last government did in 14 years. We just had the most successful renewable auction in UK history.
Miliband hails carbon capture plans as essential if UK is to ‘decarbonise without deindustrialising’
Energy minister Ed Miliband has described the government’s plans for carbon capture and storage as “exciting” and the beginning of a new era for Britain.
Miliband said the new plans were “essential if we are to decarbonise without deindustrialising”, and were exciting because it showed that the new Labour government is “willing to invest in the future of Britain”.
He told listeners of the Radio 4 Today programme that “create good jobs of the future, as the good jobs used to exist in coal” and help bring about energy security.
Asked about critics who say carbon capture is a misstep, and the country should be getting out of the fossil fuel market altogether, he said that in order to head towards net zero, “we need all the technologies at our disposal,” and said the country was heading for “the biggest change in 200 years in the way we run our economy.”
Miliband said:
The backbone of our system will be renewables, right? That is the absolute backbone of our system. You will also have nuclear as part of the energy mix, long duration storage, batteries. But it is also important to have a strategic reserve.
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics for Friday. Here are your headlines …
The Post Office Horizon IT inquiry is sitting, but none of the legislative bodies in the UK are. Health secretary Wes Streeting will be speaking at the Royal College of GPs conference in Liverpool, and the prime minister’s carbon capture speech will be at 10.45am. We’ll bring you all the key lines as they develop throughout the day.
It is Martin Belam with you today. If you want to get in touch with me, and I do find it helpful if people point out typos, errors and ommissons, you can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com