Energy Crisis
The poor response by the Conservative government
The poor way the conservatives have responded to the energy crisis illustrates many of their weaknesses.
Bad economic and business sense
Saddles the nation with £100B of additional debt which we, our children, and our grandchildren will have to repay.
Doggedly refusing to use windfall tax on the oil/gas companies who are the cause and benefactor of the energy crisis. Effectively the Conservatives are paying a subsidy to these companies by giving cash to the energy companies. Even though the CEO of BP said a windfall tax wouldn’t stop them from investing.
No investment in insulation that would reduce costs significantly – UK homes are some of the worst insulated in Europe.
No additional investment in renewables that are now 9x cheaper than gas.
Lack of commitment to climate change action
The negative rhetoric on renewables. Zero additional investment or acceleration plans. Combined with appointing prominent climate change skeptics, like Jacob Rees-Mogg. Plus opening up fracking and additional licenses, against the advice of the IPCC and other climate change bodies. Together this clearly shows how little commitment the Conservative government has to address climate change.
Poor morals
Doing little to help those in energy poverty, while giving taxpayer money to the rich oil/gas companies (an industry Lis Truss worked in), demonstrates a lack of moral standards.
The high-level response of capping energy prices makes sense. But it’s just doing what the LibDems (and Labour) had proposed earlier, but to a lesser extent, and they really had no choice given the likely economic collapse and social unrest if they didn’t act.
Let’s compare how the LibDem proposal and Conservative Plans compare:
No action on the worst insulated homes in Europe, wasting money:
Pointless fracking and oil/gas licensing
Most gas from the Northsea already and we already removed the small reliance on Russian gas:
The UK is a tiny producer of gas, we won’t effect the price of gas:
Action |
Liberal Democrat |
Conservative |
| Price Cap | £1,917 | £2,500 (27% higher) |
| Additional help for those most in need | Double Warm Homes discount to £300 and extend to all those on universal credit and pension credit | Nothing |
| Better insulation for fuel-poor homes to bring down costs | Yes | No |
| Who pays | Oil/Gas industry through windfall tax on excess profits |
You, your child, and your grandchildren Repaying £100B+ national debt for years to come from general taxation |
| Fracking | No |
Yes Increasing oil/gas profits with no cost benefit to the public or business since UK production is a tiny % of the global market which sets the price Risking earthquake and environmental damage and incompatible with NetZero targets |
| Additional Oil/Gas licenses | No |
Yes Increasing oil/gas profits with no cost benefit to the public or business since UK production is a tiny % of the global market which sets the price Incompatible with NetZero targets |
| Renewable Energy | Increase speed of adoption of renewables which are 9x cheaper than gas-based electricity generation | Slow down adoption with an anti-renewable rhetoric |
| Climate Change | Committed to NetZero with real and accelerated focus | Back-peddling on climate change commitments with prominent skeptics in the cabinet, notably putting climate change skeptic Jacob Rees-Mogg in charge of energy |