Forum Topic

GB Energy turns out to be a load of hot air

According to several reports GB Energy will just be an investment vehicle not an energy company at all. Some may say a large quango, a Private Finance Initiative vehicle. I wonder who will be appointed to run it??https://uk.news.yahoo.com/labours-gb-energy-plan-branded-103314068.html

Ed Robinson ● 389d10 Comments

Last time I went to our local hospital that Labour closed and then reopened years later with PFI, it had a huge diesel generator powering the out buildings in the car park. It has been running for years.Silence by both parties on this. I wonder why?Not much hope for the country if a government building in SW15 has to use diesel!

Ed Robinson ● 388d

Maybe Labour can promise to build just 39 hospitals and be slightly less bad than the Tories were on fulfilling their promises.It's a pretty low bar they have to reach after all.To be (re-)elected you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be less worse than the alternative.(Not a Tory or Labour voter, except when it comes to ousting the Tories.)

John Kettlekey ● 388d

And not just powering things like data centres but also keeping them cool!

Philippa Bond ● 388d

"In Response To:Do you all work for Conservative Central Office"Err no, do not vote for the uni-party. Both have left the UK in a terrible situation regarding energy.According to Wiki, Vattenfall is a 100% Swedish state owned company that produces electricity.EDF produces electricity. I believe they are build a nuclear power station in the UK - very slowly!GB Energy will not produce energy and hence cannot be compared with EDF or other state owned companies.It looks like the initial plan was it would. Then the budget was cut so it would not. Now there is a backlash and may or may not depending who's talking. Of course Ed Miliband wants it to but he will be lucky that he's still in the party if he has gone solo without budget. Just to be clear we need to be self sufficient and let's not forget Thatcher imported Soviet and apartheid coal. Dictators were fine then I guess??For decades China has been switching to green clean power and replacing old coal power stations and replacing them with efficient and cleaner ones as well as new smaller advanced nuclear, various storage technology.This is who the UK has to compete with with fag packet policies from the main parties. The demand for power for industry and data centers is crucial to try and become competitive again.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9xxpypr8d0o

Ed Robinson ● 388d

Do you all work for Conservative Central Office? Last night Ed Miliband confirmed unequivocally that British Energy will be a company, comparing it to the Swedish and French nationally owned energy companies. I believe him. And no, I don’t work for the Labour Party but I am a member.Nick

Nicholas Evans ● 388d

Wasn't Great British Railways a rather cringey post Brexit Tory invention?There are an awful lot of companies involved in the chain between energy producer and the customer. Too often the smart meters don't work (and aren't fixed) and funnily enough even when a company says they can't read a meter there is someone else in the chain who can read it.  It needs a good shake-up!

Philippa Bond ● 388d

I think it is worse than just putting a Great British in front of it."Great British Energy. We will create a new publicly owned champion – Great British Energy, to give us real energy independence from foreign dictators. It will be owned by the British people, built by the British people and benefit the British people."I guess it will excludes some UK citizens from Northern Ireland (along with anyone with a valid permit to work in the UK).I'm pretty sure that's illegal and breaks a few treaties.You would have thought that political parties would have learnt a few Brexit lessons!

Ed Robinson ● 389d

Is anyone surprised it's another Labour con? They think by putting Great British in front of something that thinking people will be conned.Unfortunately they will con many with this shameless PR speak. Let's hope not too many .What's next solve the boat crisis by making it safer, get Great British Ferries to pick them up at Calais so they can get here unharmed to collect  their Great British benefits and get one of the 1.5 m Great British homes labour will build in the first 5 years.That's 820 a day ! Hope all these refugees are chippies, electricians or bricks able to start work on day 1. But why would they when Great British benefits are available.

Andy Pike ● 389d

"Cut your energy bill for good – making families up to £1,400 better off a year."https://labour.org.uk/missions/"Great British Energy is part of Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan to create 650,000 good jobs, cut bills by £300 on average and deliver real energy security. "https://labour.org.uk/missions/clean-energy/It goes down from £1,400 to £300 - always good to be clear  - just as well it's not an energy company they wouldn't want to be accused of misselling!But if it is not an energy company it will have no say about what the cost the energy is sold at, what the profit margin is or - as with other companies that were privatised what country ends up owning that investment. Assuming foreign companies are not given such investments.Clearly the original idea was an actually energy company - now it will raise taxes on the energy companies - then give it back to them I assume. Sounds like a great plan!

Ed Robinson ● 389d

Thankyou for that link Ed. Disgraceful from Liebour!🤬Now Starmer's disingenuous pledge has been outed will it be dropped by him? Or will he keep lying about it? "LABOUR’S plans for a “home-grown energy company” have unravelled spectacularly after Keir Starmer was forced to admit Great British Energy was “not an energy company”.The SNP have branded the flagship pledge a “sham” after Starmer dramatically scaled back Labour’s plans during a visit to Scotland on Friday.Speaking to BBC Good Morning Scotland, Starmer admitted the publicly-owned company would be an “investment vehicle” to pump money into the private sector.

Sue Hammond ● 389d