Home       About       Contact
Energy

Chapters

  1. Salaries and Taxation
  2. Pensions
  3. Benefits
  4. Health and Care
  5. Education
  6. Housing
  7. Employment
  8. Trades Unions and Labour Laws
  9. Trade and Industry
  10. Transport
  11. Energy
  12. Environment
  13. Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Rural Life
  14. Crime
  15. Legal System
  16. Immigration and Asylum
  17. Local Government
  18. Devolution and Regional Government
  19. Parliament and Democracy
  20. Media
  21. Freedom of Information and Privacy
  22. Northern Ireland
  23. European Union
  24. Foreign Policy
  25. Defence and Disarmament
  26. Conclusions
 Preamble

Chapters

  1. Salaries and Taxation
  2. Pensions
  3. Benefits
  4. Health and Care
  5. Education
  6. Housing
  7. Employment
  8. Trades Unions and Labour Laws
  9. Trade and Industry
  10. Transport
  11. Energy
  12. Environment
  13. Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Rural Life
  14. Crime
  15. Legal System
  16. Immigration and Asylum
  17. Local Government
  18. Devolution and Regional Government
  19. Parliament and Democracy
  20. Media
  21. Freedom of Information and Privacy
  22. Northern Ireland
  23. European Union
  24. Foreign Policy
  25. Defence and Disarmament
  26. Conclusions
Under the Tories, most of Britains deep coal mines were closed and all but one of the remainder privatised, while open-cast mining expanded. The rules governing electricity generation were widely seen as biased against coal, and gas-fired generation increased rapidly. The same rules and the non-fossil fuel obligation (NFFO) were used to protect the more expensive nuclear power plants. Almost no NFFO support went to renewable energy sources like wind, wave and solar, and their specific budget was to be cut. The nuclear industry also developed the Thorp and MOX plants which others criticised on cost, environmental and safety grounds. Little effort went into energy saving and the more efficient use of energy.
Labour policy was:
1 No further open-cast mining on greenfield sites  
2 To rewrite the rules for electricity generation to give coal a level playing field  
3 No new gas-fired power stations until...?  
4 No new nuclear power stations  
5 To close Thorp and refuse a licence to the MOX plant, (?)  
6 Not to cut the renewables budget and suppliers to be obliged to use renewables  
7 To generate 10% of electricity from renewables by 2010 and 20% by 2025  
8 A national energy efficiency programme including insulation work and obliging energy suppliers to provide a range of energy efficiency services  
9 Promotion of combined heat and power (CHP) and clean coal technology  
In fact under New Labour:
1 Many more open-cast mines were established We need more information on the outcome of this pledge. Can you help?
2 Rules where output had to be predicted 3.5 hours ahead discriminated against coal (still true?) Left as under the Conservatives
3 New gas-fired stations were allowed after lobbying by companies Left as under the Conservatives
4 After a temporary embargo, plans for new nuclear stations were promoted Pledge partially carried out
5 Thorp was supported and MOX licensed Left as under the Conservatives
6 These were achieved, with suppliers obliged to use 3.5% renewable sources Pledge carried out
7 We were not on track to meet these targets, but wind power was greatly expanded Pledge carried out
8 A private members bill improved insulation but on a much smaller scale and the Climate Change Levy encouraged energy efficiency at big companies Pledge partially carried out
9 CHP  actually decreased and clean coal technology was not pursued Left as under the Conservatives
In addition:
Bullet point Most parts of the nuclear industry were privatised and decommissioning costs, once seen as liabilities to be minimised, were seen as assets to be maximised as the state must pay them  
Bullet point A government review of future energy needs sat in secret with no cross-examination of witnesses  

 

 Bullet point 

Ofgem finds that the private energy market has failed to meet the country's needs and government intervention is needed 

 

Home       About       Contact