The Labour Party has said it would ramp up investment in green energy technologies and infrastructure in a bid to reverse the impact of Conservative Party cuts.
Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey visited a wind turbine manufacturer in Widnes over the weekend as part of a newly-branded push to bring energy jobs and investment back to Britain.
Long Bailey in particular cited cuts to renewables subsidies and a decision to axe all further renewable energy subsidies until 2025 at the earliest.
Those decisions, among others, resulted in a 56% fall in clean energy investment last year and a 12.5% slide in employment within the low carbon and renewables sector, equivalent to around 30,000 jobs, Labour said.
Long Bailey said that policy decisions taken by the Tories had resulted in an “expensive and polluting” energy system that is “reaching its sell by date”.
“At every turn, the government has undermined the energy industry and our green economy, scrapping big renewable projects, and the innovative expertise and jobs that come with them,” she said.
Labour said it would look to reverse this by investing in green energy technologies and infrastructure across each region of the UK, also tackling a perceived London-centric bias in Conservative Party investment.
And Labour would too set an ambitious carbon emissions target upon the country.
“Labour will build an energy system that actually delivers for businesses, workers and our environment, creating secure and high-skilled jobs, while at the same time ensuring that 60 per cent of our energy comes from zero-carbon or renewable sources by 2030,” Long Bailey said.
