Energy bills & taxes will increase under Labour…Keir can’t keep lights on, Tories insist as millions to save £122
SIR Keir Starmer can’t keep the lights on and his energy plans will see taxes soar, Claire Coutinho insisted today.
The Energy Secretary clashed with the Labour chief over their party’s different proposals for keeping gas and electricity bills down.
It came as energy regulator Ofgem confirmed the new price cap, which comes into effect on July 1.
The cap will fall from the current rate of £1,690 to just £1,568 a year, the lowest level in two years.
It means the average household paying by direct debit for dual fuel could see their annual bill drop by £122 – a 7% fall.
On day two of election campaigning Labour and the Tories butted heads as the parties set out their stalls on energy.
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A fiery Ms Coutinho warned that Sir Keir’s plan to create a publicly owned renewables firm, GB Energy, will send bills skyrocketing.
She told Sky News: “There’s a very clear choice ahead.
“Our plan is to make sure that people have cheap energy.
“In stark contrast there’s Labour’s plan. Even independent experts say it will not only halve our energy security – our ability to keep the lights on – but it will also increase people’s bills.”
Ms Coutinho added: “When it comes to their targets, which no other country has when it comes to say decarbonising the grid by 2030, that would lead to higher taxes for people as well.
“Exactly the last thing they need having been through a cost of living crisis.”
Sir Keir hit back vowing that GB Energy will bring down bills.
He told LBC: “This is an enterprise that will be owned by the taxpayer, making money for the taxpayer.
“The long-term advantage of that is it will bring our energy bills down not just for a while, but for good.”
The Labour chief also repeated his promise not to immediately shut down North Sea oil as he tries to transition the UK towards 100 per cent renewables.
He said: “The blunt reality is, we are going to run out of oil and gas – we need to make the transition.
“We need to make that transition and do the planning.
“Now, what I’m not going to allow to happen is what happened with coal, which is that we got to the end of the line on coal and there wasn’t a plan for the future. And many people lost their jobs. That, to me, was a historic mistake.”
On the campaign trail today Sir Keir will be in Glasgow to launch Labour’s election battle in Scotland.
He will appear alongside Scottish Labour boss Anas Sarwar and will argue that the election is an opportunity to “finally turn the page on 14 years of Tory government and the failed SNP and to chart a new course for the country”.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak will complete his whistlestop tour of the four nations of the UK with a visit to Northern Ireland.
The PM will visit a dockyard to talk about maritime transport before flying back to England for a final campaign event.
What is GB Energy?
One of Labour’s key election pledges is to form a publicly-owned renewable energy firm, called GB Energy.
Sir Keir Starmer insists that the £8bn project would cut bills for good and boost energy security.
The party says it will pay for the firm by slapping a mega windfall tax on oil and gas giants.
Based in Scotland, it would be “owned by the British people, built by the British people and benefit the British people”.
Sir Keir insists the firm would contribute to the creation of 650,000 new green jobs and slash bills by £300 on average.
The Tories have slammed GB Energy as a “complete gimmick”.
Claire Coutinho said: “When it comes to renewable energy, if you think that’s the answer alone, no other country has done as much as us or very few.
“So offshore wind, for example, the most efficient type of renewable energy, the only country in the world that’s built more than us is China.
“The Labour plan is not that they want to rush ahead of everyone else.
“And actually independent experts… have looked at some of their plans and said that they will hike taxes massively and increase people’s energy bills.”