Keir Starmer

That's disappointing, but obviously energy prices aren't really within government control.

Out of interest what do you think about Reform's plans to pay the Taliban to take back asylum seekers and execute them? Or them banning journalists?

You're strangely quiet on anything Reform related despite jumping on Angela Rayner for the heinous crime of buying a house.

 

Don't make election promises that aren't in your control then?

 

Agreed, it's poor conduct and a daft idea.

What are your thoughts on the Reform points?

 

By when?

 

Remember this pledge from Keir? Other broken pledges are available!

 

I'm not sure what anyone thinks they can do about volatile gas prices in the short term.

Thinking long term they have created Great British Energy. A national organisation with the distinct aim of increasing state owned renewable energy which is far cheaper to produce and will eventually allow us to end gas dictating the price we all pay.

Reform on the other hand have pledged to scrap net zero, scrap the energy price cap, and heavily tax renewables. Those changes would further lock us to gas prices which are projected to keep going up until at least 2050. You think the prices are high now? Wait and see what happens if Reform get in power and enforce those policies. We'll all need more than a winter fuel allowance then!

 

Don’t forget the pledge to start fracking also, which will be interesting if it ends up being in the areas that are heavily Deform voters! If anyone thinks that fracking will bring down the price of energy bills they are sadly mistaken. All our oil and gas gets sold abroad and bought back at a massively higher rate! Who would have thought a party backed by fossil fuel companies would consider this move

 

Unfortunately those policies work well for populists because they sound like and simple, sensible solution to a complex issue.

Same as the claim they will save British steel with British coal. Sounds great until you understand that the coal isn't suitable for steel production due to it's low quality

 

Exactly. Unfortunately the voters will only hear the sound bites. Wait until they see the potential sites under consideration for fracking

 

Reform controlled Lancashire council pledged not to allow fracking today. Although I expect them to be overruled for a brown envelope in the near future.

They have also signed a deal with Rolls Royce for the provision/testing of SMR nuclear reactors, which will be a game changer for providing cheap, clean power across the country. Except the NIMBYs will object like they are to the solar farm are Conisborough.

 

Its good news but worth noting that even if once they have been given clearance to build one it will likely take 10.years from initial planning to fully functional. That's before, as you say, community objections.

Of course Reform have also pledged to replace renewables with investment in nuclear.. as someone who lives near Sizewell and has seen the ongoing running battles still taking place, it's hard to see nuclear being accepted as the answer anytime soon. Like fracking, we just don't have any locations willing to accommodate it.

 

Energy bills won't come down until we stop using fossil fuels. The government are working towards that goal but it won't be achieved within this parliament. As fossil fuels are phased out, prices will fall and that should be seen before the next general election. I'm pretty sure that the Labour Manifesto didn't promise that energy prices would fall within the first year of the government so it's far too early to say that "Another election promise failed on".

Remember that the price we pay for energy is based on the price of the most expensive generation method - gas. This was baked into the privatisation model under Thatcher to ensure that all power generators could make a profit, even the most expensive ones. The price of gas is decided by the global market, something which we have no control over and that price was massively inflated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It's also worth noting that even though we as a country produce gas, and should be earning massive income from the sale of it, we don't because the gas extraction companies in the North Sea are all owned by foreign investors.

We have such a lot to thank Thatcher for don't we?

 

"Except the NIMBYs will object like they are to the solar farm are Conisborough"

Tbf, particularly people who support green issues or just the retention of the Greenbelt have justification to feel miffed with Doncaster Council. A few years back DMBC Members voted unanimously to accept that there is a climate change emergency, and that Council should act accordingly, since then several good size public buildings have been built, or are planned, none have been, or are to be fitted with solar panels, green living walls etc. They passed Peel Holdings plan for a massive warehousing development, one building alone had the largest roof on any similar building in Europe and the Council gave permission for it to be built without solar panels or any other green mitigation. Hundreds of new homes have subsequently been passed...DMBC insist on electric car chargers being fitted to them , but refuse to insist on the solar roof to provide that energy.

 

They're.

 

Isn't the issue getting that supply from large scale solar roof projects into the network? I'm sure I've seen or read that our network is geared to generation from a few large sites.

I know the government are supporting a large injection of spend to upgrade parts of the national grid, but obviously, it's a big old country and it will need a lot of renewal.

I do wish there would be a change to building regs though that new builds must have environmentally sustainable methods for heating and energy generation built into them. Seems stupid that a new build finished today won't meet the standards of tomorrow. But the housing sector hold a lot of power it would seem.

 

You're right about the grid but it is being upgraded to cope with the output from renewables. We are also trying to build new solar farms close to the sites of former coal powered stations where all the connection infrastructure is still there ready for connection to the grid. For example near me, a solar farm is planned near the site of the former Drakelow coal power station (near the river Trent at Burton) and of course there was an (unsuccessful) NIMBY campaign to oppose it,. Power storage facilities are also being built to allow power generated from renewables to be used efficiently. All this stuff takes time of course and the grid has had little done to improve it in the previous 14 years under the Tories.

One thing which the government didn't do which would be a massive benefit is to mandate the installation of solar panels on all new build housing. The cost would be between £5,000 and £10,000 depending on the size of the installation which all would agree is a small percentage of house prices.

 

I’ve had a brief chat with an architect who specialises in improving energy efficiency of old housing stock, ahead of us moving.

He seemed pretty reticent to push solar or a heat pump and instead suggested higher levels of insulation, it’s a C on the EPC.

I suspect insulation on many new homes isn’t up to scratch… and of course we’re now in a world where cooling can be just as important as heating.

 

Bloody hell those years have flown by. Is it the election next week or the week after?

 

Spot on Mr Brush. So much of Britain has been sold off to the private sector/foreign investors in the last 50 years that it beggars belief. Unfortunately Thatcherite economics are still the prevailing go-to for all the main parties. She's set the agenda and nobody with progressive values dares to challenge. The Labour Party is managerial and tied to neo-liberal corporatism, the LibDems are largely silent, the Tories never say anything unless its about culture wars/immigration and Reform say a lot about immigration but if one digs they are more Thatcherite than Thatcher. Shame on Labour. Anybody worried about decline or our national assets has to vote Green or the new Corbyn party. Vote for anything else and you'll get Thatcher in some form and the country will decline further.

 

Yes our houses are very badly insulated. Our house has a kitchen extension which I'm sure has no insulation at all, a couple of years ago, reclad 2 walls and included some polystyrene insulation sheets, the other wall is unfortunately about 2 inches from next door's conservatory so I can't do anything with it unless I rip out most of the kitchen units and insulate the inside. Fixing this nationwide should near the top of the priorities but sadly isn't.

You're right about cooling but the easiest way to achieve that is to alter behaviours like closing curtains or blinds on the south side of our houses and to close windows to keep the hot air out, things which would massively reduce the temperatures - we can learn a lot from the Spanish with that. Unfortunately it's ingrained in the national psyche to let the sun in and throw the windows wide for fresh air.

I think domestic solar still has a massive part to play because there is a lot more to energy use than just heating or cooling our houses. We have solar panels and our energy exports reward us financially and help supply power to industry etc and reduce the national generation requirement.