Labour to form publicly owned energy company

Starmer gave the headline speech at today’s Labour party conference in Liverpool. He touched on various issues, including the cost of living, energy bills, Russian aggression in Ukraine and the Mini-Budget announced by the government last week.

In the speech, Starmer committed his party to forming a publicly owned green energy company named “Great British Energy”. The Labour leader claims one of the focusses of the firm would be to lessen the burden on working families by shifting to greener energy, such as wind, solar and wave, which he claimed would help cut energy bills and help deliver energy independence.

Starmer described it as: “A new company that takes advantage of the opportunities in clean British power and because it’s right for jobs, because it’s right for growth, because it’s right for energy independence from tyrants like Putin.”

Starmer pointed out the UK’s reliance on foreign powers who have a stake in our energy, declaring: “The largest onshore wind farm in Wales. Who owns it? Sweden. Energy bills in Swansea are paying for schools and hospitals in Stockholm.

“The Chinese Communist Party has a stake in our nuclear industry. And five million people in Britain pay their bills to an energy company owned by France.”

Starmer went on to stress: “None of this will be easy – it won’t be like flicking a switch. It will mean tough battles on issues like planning and regulation.”

He continued, imploring the conference to: “Remember this: the road to net-zero is no longer one of stern, austere, self-denial. It’s at the heart of modern, 21st century aspiration.”

The Labour leader also said that a Labour government would commit to making the UK use 100% clean power by 2030.

This comes as Labour’s poll lead grew to 17 points ahead of the Conservatives, the party’s biggest lead since 2001, according to a YouGov poll.