The government is “absolutely up for the fight” over net zero, Ed Miliband has said, as he accused the Conservatives and Reform of “a total desertion and betrayal” of future generations by failing to tackle the climate crisis.
After a turbulent week for Labour in which it has been charged with abandoning its values by slashing disability benefits, the energy secretary sought to focus attention on the party’s plans for the green energy transition.
The first major project for publicly owned Great British Energy (GBE) will fund solar panels on the roofs of hundreds of schools and hospitals, in an effort to save hundreds of millions of pounds on energy bills and free up cash to reinvest in frontline services.
The £200m investment also includes funding for councils and community groups to build local clean power projects, such as community-owned onshore wind, rooftop solar and hydropower in rivers.
Amid some scepticism internally over No 10’s commitment to the green agenda, Miliband said that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves were 100% behind it, despite fears among some Labour MPs they could row back on funding and targets under political pressure.
“It’s absolutely central to their economic growth and energy security, as well as climate agenda … So as far as I’m concerned, they are 100% committed to this agenda,” he said.
Miliband pledged to drive through Labour’s manifesto plans despite attacks from the rightwing parties, arguing that the British public was fully behind climate action as long as it guaranteed energy security, jobs and lower bills.
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, dismayed green Tories this week by declaring the UK’s target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 was impossible to achieve without “a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”.
Reform UK is holding four events next week as part of its local election campaign, which is expected to be dominated by battles over local energy infrastructure such windfarms and solar panels, which Nigel Farage has described as “net zero madness”.
In an interview with the Guardian, Miliband said: “It’s a sign of a Tory party that is frankly out of ideas and desperate, and what they’re really offering is an anti-jobs, anti-energy security, anti-future generations policy.
“It’s an energy surrender policy because it would leave us dependent on fossil fuels, it’s an anti-jobs policy because the net zero economy grew three times faster than the economy as a whole last year and it’s a total desertion and betrayal of future generations.”
Miliband, who has faced attacks from rightwingers who have called him an “eco zealot”, said the significant majority of people in the UK supported the net zero agenda.
“We are absolutely up for this fight. The British people do want climate action, they want to see it done in a way that is good for energy security, lower bills and good jobs and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he said.
“The worst impact on living standards we have seen for generations was as a result of our exposure to fossil fuels and fossil-fuel markets controlled by petrostates and dictators when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“People recognise that cheap, clean renewables beat expensive, insecure fossil fuels. If Reform or the Tories or anyone wants to have that fight, bring it on, I say honestly, bring it on.”
A YouGov poll after Badenoch’s speech found that 61% of people either strongly supported or somewhat supported the government’s commitment to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, while 24% said they somewhat opposed or strongly opposed it and 15% said the didn’t know.
Even among those who voted Conservative at the last general election, 52% supported the net zero commitment, 38% opposed it and 11% didn’t know.
Asked about the impact that Donald Trump’s administration could have on the global net zero agenda, Miliband suggested other nations would press on regardless because they saw the benefits.
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“I’ve just come back from China, I’ve just recently been in India, people are getting on with the transition, because people recognise this is the source of jobs in the future, the route to energy security,” he said.
“Different countries make their own decisions. Obviously, we seek to find common ground with the Trump administration, but we’ve made our choice, and this is the right choice for Britain.”
Hospitals and schools have faced soaring bills as result of the energy crisis, driven by volatile fossil-fuel prices, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Nero (DESNZ).
Miliband said: “Right now, money that should be spent on your children’s education or your family’s healthcare is instead being wasted on sky-high energy bills.”
About £80m of GBE cash will pay for 200 schools in England to install solar panels, while £100m will go to 200 NHS sites, with estimated lifetime savings of as much as £400m over 30 years.
The NHS is the biggest public-sector energy user with an estimated annual bill of £1.4bn, a cost that has more than doubled since 2019.
The first panels are expected to be on the roofs of hospitals and schools by the summer. DESNZ said a typical school could save £25,000 a year, while the average NHS site could save £45,000 if they had solar panels installed alongside technology such as batteries.
Funding will target areas most in need, with selected schools primarily clustered in deprived areas in the north-east, West Midlands and north-west, as well as at least 10 schools in each region.
“We’re going to win this net zero fight, school by school, hospital by hospital, community by community, by showing the benefits this is going to deliver,” Miliband said.
Jess Ralston, an analyst at the Energy & ClimateIntelligence Unit, said: “It’s a good first step after underinvestment for decades, but if we want to reduce the impact of future energy price spikes, experts are clear that more needs to be done on energy efficiency and moving away from gas boilers to wean the UK off foreign gas imports, which should stabilise bills.”
