Miliband hails carbon capture plan as essential for UK to ‘decarbonise without hollowing out industry’
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the government’s plans for carbon capture and storage were “exciting” and the start of a new era for the UK.
Mr Miliband said the new plans were “vital if we are to decarbonise without hollowing out industry” and were interesting because they showed the New Labor government’s “willingness to invest in Britain’s future”.
He told listeners on the Radio 4 Today program that it would “create the good jobs of the future, just as there were good jobs in coal once” and help achieve energy security.
Asked about critics who say carbon capture is wrong and the country should exit the fossil fuel market completely, he said “we need every technology at our disposal” to move towards net zero. Ta. The country was heading for “the biggest change in the way the economy is run in 200 years.”
Miliband said:
The backbone of our system is renewable energy, right? That’s the absolute backbone of our system. Nuclear power, long-term storage and batteries will also be part of the energy mix. But it’s also important to have strategic reserves.
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Jonathan Powell: James Cleverley deserves credit for leading Chagos negotiations ‘for quite some time and with great enthusiasm’
Jonathan Powell, who was leading the new government’s negotiations with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands, staunchly defended the government’s agreement in a media appearance this morning.
He said it had been a long process, involving 13 rounds of negotiations, noting that 11 of those negotiations took place under the previous Conservative government, and praised Conservative leadership candidate James Cleverley by name, saying: I think they deserve praise for starting this.” I have been actively leading negotiations for quite some time. ”
Yesterday, Mr Cleverley described the final outcome of the process as “weak”.
Mr Powell said Britain’s position had become “legally unstable” and the deal was important to ensure the continued operation of British military bases. He denied media reports that the United States was dissatisfied with the results, saying:
The United States has been closely involved in the negotiations. Every sentence and paragraph went through an interagency process, and every single agency in Washington, we agreed on everything, we made sure we had all the red lines in that negotiation.
He joked that the report was more likely to have come from an anonymous briefing by a “disgruntled former Conservative minister” than from someone actually inside the US government.
Although the words may not be well-received by the Chagossians, who were forced from their homeland by the British in the 1960s, Mr. Powell was quite negative about the island itself, saying that people worry about losing territory to the British every year. He said it shouldn’t be done. More is probably lost to tidal erosion on the East Coast. ”
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Ed Miliband: Current situation around assisted dying is ‘cruel’
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband supported changing the law to allow assisted dying in England and Wales, calling the current situation “cruel”.
He told viewers of ITV’s Good Morning Britain:
I will vote for the assisted dying bill. Of course, it will be a free vote of members of the Diet. These are very complex and difficult issues, and there are very respectful opinions on both sides.
Personally, I know that there are people who are terminally ill, but I think the current situation is quite cruel.
I think it’s right that people should be able to control their own lives and deaths.
While clearly appropriate safeguards are needed and I understand some people’s concerns on these issues, my personal view is that I will vote in favor of this bill.
He made a very similar point when he appeared on BBC Breakfast as part of the morning media round. You can watch the clip here:
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SNP Westminster deputy leader Pete Wishart has called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the “bedroom tax” in this month’s budget.
PA Media reports that research commissioned by the SNP and carried out by the Library of Commons shows that just under 100,000 households in Scotland are affected by the Bedroom Tax, which means beneficiaries have no space left in their home. If there is a room available, cash will be deducted from the benefit.
Mr Wishart said:
Thousands of low-income households in Scotland and the UK are being pushed into poverty by punitive Labor government policies such as the bedroom tax.
Scottish voters were promised change. She must use a complete reset of the UK budget, including scrapping the bedroom tax without further delay.
This is a cruel policy that penalizes the poorest households just for living in their parents’ home, and it has a disproportionate impact on Scotland.
It is shameful that the Labor government has made the political choice to keep it that way.
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Another thing we’re looking forward to today is that the Government’s decision on whether to proceed with the 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 the scheme. The project will connect the A2 and M2 in Kent with the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 4.2km tunnel under the River Thames, making it Britain’s longest road tunnel.
The aim is to start construction in 2026 and open in 2032.
Thurrock City Council in Essex has consistently opposed the project due to its negative economic, social and environmental impact, while the leader of Dartford Borough Council in Kent is in favor of the project.
Local campaigners, the Thames Crossing Action Group, claim the crossing is “highly destructive and harmful” and a waste of money.
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One of the two carbon capture and storage (CCS) clusters the government is investing in is located in Teesside, north-east England, and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the day was “a monumental day for Teesside”. It is a momentous day and my proudest achievement.” As mayor. ”
He said it would bring “thousands of jobs (and) billions of pounds of investment”, describing it on social media as a “generational opportunity”.
After seven years of hard work on this carbon capture project, today is a monumental day for Teesside and my proudest achievement as Mayor.
Thousands of jobs. Multi-billion pound investment. Intergenerational opportunities. @TeesworksUK This will be a new ICI. https://t.co/6HDBZetk6E
— Ben Houchen (@BenHouchen) October 4, 2024
Mr Houchen, the region’s Conservative mayor who was elected in 2017, told the Northern Echo: “I would like to thank the Government for giving the green light to this project.”
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While we were talking about the environment, my colleague Damien Carrington, who is the environment editor, published this article. Researchers point to a study that found that people are significantly more motivated to reduce their own carbon emissions when they see political leaders taking the following actions: same.
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Ed Miliband admits government needs to do more to encourage people to switch to EVs
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband admitted the government needed to do more to persuade people to switch to EVs after the plans were criticized by industry leaders.
The Energy Secretary told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:
There are two specific issues I can identify. The first problem is that the last government pushed the date back to 2035. That was part of what confused the market a little bit. That’s why we’re making it clear that 2030 is the year when new petrol and diesel cars will be phased out.
The next thing we have to do, and in fact this is the most important thing, is to get this charging infrastructure in place. I think one of the concerns people have is, will there be charging infrastructure? Can I get ripped off with charging infrastructure?
Mr Miliband continued: “We are working with the whole of government on our plans to ensure we have the necessary charging infrastructure in place.”
“Things are only going in one direction, towards EVs,” he argued, adding that the country is “either going to slow down, lose competitiveness, and miss our climate goals, or if we don’t do the right thing.” “There is a possibility that the government will either move forward with this,” he said. ”
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Ed Miliband boasts of new government’s commitment to renewable energy
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband boasted on Radio 4 Today’s program that the New Labor government already had an impressive track record on renewable energy, saying it had been “pushing ahead” since coming to power.
He told listeners:
We have been promoting renewable energy since we took office. We overturned the ban on onshore wind power. We agreed more solar power in less than three months than the last government did in 14 years. The most successful renewable energy auction in UK history has been held.
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Miliband hails carbon capture plan as essential for UK to ‘decarbonise without hollowing out industry’
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the government’s plans for carbon capture and storage were “exciting” and the start of a new era for the UK.
Mr Miliband said the new plans were “vital if we are to decarbonise without hollowing out industry” and were interesting because they showed the New Labor government’s “willingness to invest in Britain’s future”.
He told listeners on the Radio 4 Today program that it would “create the good jobs of the future, just as there were good jobs in coal once” and help achieve energy security.
Asked about critics who say carbon capture is wrong and the country should exit the fossil fuel market completely, he said “we need every technology at our disposal” to move towards net zero. Ta. The country was heading for “the biggest change in the way the economy is run in 200 years.”
Miliband said:
The backbone of our system is renewable energy, right? That’s the absolute backbone of our system. Nuclear power, long-term storage and batteries will also be part of the energy mix. But it’s also important to have strategic reserves.
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Welcome and opening overview…
good morning. Welcome to Friday’s regular coverage of British politics. The heading is as follows…
An investigation into Post Office Horizon IT is pending, but not any of the UK’s legislative bodies. Health Secretary Wes Streeting will speak at the Royal College of GPs in Liverpool, with the Prime Minister’s speech on carbon capture scheduled to take place at 10.45am. We’ll bring you all the major lines that will unfold throughout the day.
Today I’m Martin Bellum. If you would like to contact me, I would appreciate it if people would point out typos, mistakes, and omissions. Please contact martin.belam@theguardian.com.
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