Labour still offers a better future to the country despite scaling back on green investment - Yorkshire Post Letters

Labour's decision to scale back spending on their Green Prosperity Plan has been necessitated by the dire state of the economy.

This is not just the result of Rishi Sunak throwing money at Tory friends and fraudulent claims during Covid, or Liz Truss's trashing the economy, but also Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement tax cuts, based on implausible future spending reductions.

Despite a smaller budget, all the main components of the Green Prosperity Plan have been retained. These are Great British Energy, a National Wealth Fund, a Warm Homes Plan and clean power generation by 2030.

Whereas over 80 per cent of UK offshore wind is foreign-owned, a striking 44 per cent is public foreign-owned, the largest company of which is Danish.

The largest on-shore wind farm in Wales is owned by Sweden. Five million people in the UK pay electricity bills to EDF, which is 100 per cent owned by France.

In effect, this means UK electricity consumers are now paying for hospitals and schools in Denmark, Sweden and France. The centrepiece of Labour's Green Prosperity Plan is Great British Energy, our own publicly owned company investing in cheap, clean energy and giving us independence from foreign cost-hikes.

The present economic recession and stagnation proves there has been no real national industrial strategy. The National Wealth Fund will invest in the zero-carbon industries creating jobs and encouraging further private investment to create growth in the economy.

It is shameful that at present we have the worst insulated houses in Europe. The Warm Homes Plan is to double the finance allocated by the present Government for the insulation of homes.

Clean energy generation is being held back by existing Government policies. The effective present ban on onshore wind generation has been estimated to cost families £180 every year.

The Green Prosperity Plan aims to achieve clean energy generation by 2030, including investing in the cheapest sources such as onshore renewables and solar power.

Labour's Green Prosperity Plan is good for the environment, good for UK jobs, good for growth and good for energy security.

At the next General Election, we will have a choice: the present Tory disinterest, inaction and frankly environmentally damaging policies or a vision of a better future for us, our children and our grandchildren. The choice is ours.