Sam Richards
@samrichardswebb
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CEO Britain Remade. Ex No10, CEN, Nissan. Hot takes, bad jokes.
London, England
Joined May 2011
1/ Since leaving Number 10, I have been building a new campaign focused on tackling Britain's biggest problem: economic growth (or at least, the lack of it.). Introducing @BritainRemade.
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The nuclear ban in Scotland is as dumb as the onshore wind ban in England was. This would be another welcome pro-growth policy from the new Government.
NEW: Ian Murray has refused to rule out overriding the Scottish Government to see nuclear power stations built in Scotland. The Scottish Secretary repeatedly refused say whether the UK would trample over the devolution agreement to build new energy infrastructure.
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@JuliaHB1 ok let's try this another way: are models allowed to be feminists? can they be taken seriously?.
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1/ Rishi Sunak’s Government has a track record of delaying the energy infrastructure we need to cut bills, dithering over the transport infrastructure we need to boost growth, and failing to deliver the planning reforms we need so young people can get on the housing ladder.
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@JuliaHB1 why is it hypocritical for her to talk about the gender pay gap and get her tits out?.
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Delighted to be asked by @michaelgove to lead an independent review into our statutory consultees to speed up planning. We can both better protect our natural world and dramatically speed up getting things built in Britain. Let’s get building!.
Understand Michael Gove will this morning announce that @samrichardswebb of @BritainRemade is to be appointed to lead a quick fire review of statutory consultees in order to speed up the planning system. A significant victory for the Yimbys.
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Since 2015 the Government has effectively banned building the cheapest source of power in England: onshore wind. Last year, despite record high energy bills, just two small turbines went operational across the country… .(1/4)
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3/ It's our view that a major factor causing Britain’s poor growth is our failure to build:.- new energy infrastructure (e.g. wind farms, nuclear, grid connections).- new housing.- new local transport connections (why doesn't Leeds have a tram network?!).
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2/ The typical British family is now £6.8K worse off than a German family, £13.5K worse off than an American family, and, if we continue our current trajectory, is set to be poorer than a Polish family by the early 2030s.
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If you stacked up the planning application for the Lower Thames Crossing it would be taller than 8 double decker buses. It's simply far too difficult and takes far too long to get anything built in Britain.
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Want to know why it takes so long to build anything in Britain? . Here's why:
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5/ For example, polling we’ve commissioned shows there is majority support for new wind projects and solar. Bans on solar farms and onshore wind are not just bad policy, they’re bad politics too.
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4/ We believe that Britain's economic decline is not inevitable, but a result of political choices. Too often, politicians choose to prioritise loud well-organised special interests over the majority of voters.
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It takes up to 13 years to get an offshore wind farm up and running but building the thing takes a fraction of that time. Get the planning barriers out of the way, let Britain build the energy we need.
✍️‘World class’ offshore wind farms are well within Britain’s reach but the slow planning process is taking the wind out of our sails, @samrichardswebb writes.
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Ukraine has just completed the first stage of a 500MW onshore wind project, with 114MW built during wartime. The facility is less than 62 miles from the front line. England commissioned 1MW of onshore wind in 2022 - two turbines.
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I'm sorry about the lung disease kids, but you're overlooking the fact that for a beautiful few years I got to drive my old diesel lorry right up Southampton High Street for free*. *if you ignore the cost of your healthcare.
That feeling when a new tax is defeated 😎 . Our successful campaign in Southampton means a proposed 'clean air zone', which would have meant a £100 a day tax on certain vehicles entering the city, has been scrapped. Support us here:
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2/ At the very moment the US, the EU, China and others are investing trillions in building new clean industries, the Government now appears set to inject more uncertainty for businesses and put Britain further behind our rivals.
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Just brilliant to see the UK's new net zero target pass the Commons tonight without a single vote against. A tremendous result for @SimonClarkeMP, @AlexChalkChelt and all the other brilliant @CEN_HQ MPs. Great work by the Government; a big win for the UK and the climate.
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As a Brit who isn’t Jewish the news of the last week - from Hamas’s barbarism to antisemitism on English streets - has been unbearably disturbing. Can’t imagine what Jewish friends are going through but I hope you know that the overwhelming majority of Brits stand with you.
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10/ If you agree that we should make it easier to build new sources of clean energy, new houses and new transport links, you’ll find more information on our new campaign here:
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8/ We used to be a country that used our expertise in science and engineering to build things. Britain built the first….- railway.- coal-fired power station.- commercial nuclear power station
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Renewable energy is cheap - so why doesn't that feed into lower bills?. Energy market reform sounds intensely boring - but it's crucial to getting bills down. Local pricing would cut bills across Britain - and slash them in the places that actually build new clean energy.
The Government should back cheaper local energy. By slashing the cost of energy for those who live close to where it’s produced we can cut bills for everyone, putting more money in people’s pockets and encouraging businesses to invest and create jobs.
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9/ We believe Britain can do it again. But it means building a movement large enough to ensure Westminster, and other decision makers, hear the voices of those who support pro-growth policies like building new clean energy, new homes, and new railways.
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Imagine a law firm said they couldn't move a partner despite a string of HR complaints against him, and an official investigation that called for his removal, because he was working on a big deal.
Staggering intervention from Ben Bradshaw. Literally says Bercow should be kept in place because of Brexit.
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When @RachelReevesMP outlined a series of major planning reforms to get Britain building, I said if Keir Starmer’s government was really committed to hitting the ground running then the new energy secretary should give the green light to a host of shovel ready solar farms.
At the end of his first full week as Energy Sec, Ed Miliband has approved three large-scale solar farms. ✅ Sunnica Energy Farm.✅ Mallard Pass Solar Farm.✅ Gate Burton Energy Park. 1.5GW of clean power unlocked with the stroke of a pen.
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3/ Just like their bungled offshore wind auction that saw them fail to procure a single new offshore wind farm - chopping and changing the phaseout date for new petrol&diesel cars will baffle international investors, whose confidence in the Government is wearing thin.
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Lifting the ban on new onshore wind farms in England is something Britain Remade has been campaigning for since we launched, so I am delighted Rachel Reeves has dropped the ban so soon after the election.
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London is in a housing crisis because we aren't building enough homes to meet demand - but it doesn't have to be like this. If we chose to upgrade London's estates we could cut rents, cut emissions, and make it easier for young Londoners to get on the housing ladder.
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5/ We’ll take them at their word - next week Britain Remade will every day release a practical, popular policy that will get growth going *and* put us back on track for net zero. The Government is welcome to take any of them.
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I’m not saying our public discourse isn’t sufficiently sophisticated to sensibly tackle massive environmental breakdown but yesterday we did “Mouldy Jam: Yes or No” and today we’re on “Churchill: Goody or Baddy”.
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If it’s our moral duty to house refugees in Oxfordshire, it would probably be a good idea not to oppose every housing development proposed in Oxfordshire.
Over 2,000 Ukrainians arrived in Oxfordshire this year. I'm so proud of the way our community has come together to support them. But many families now face issues finding housing as they look to settle in the UK. This week I spoke in Parliament about what more govt needs to do.
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6/ I’ve spent the last three months meeting voters and businesses from across the UK and I’m convinced there is a political coalition for economic growth in Britain. It just needs a voice.
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Hugely welcome that the 4 nuclear power plants will have their working lives extended - but we should never have been in the position where we nearly had zero nuclear energy on the grid. Time to cut back the fish discos and get building new nuclear.
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The focus from Conservative leadership candidates today on getting Britain building again is hugely welcome. We need more homes, transport links, and clean energy asap. But there’s some confusion about net zero 🧵.
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We can have abundant cheap clean energy in this country - but we do actually need to build stuff.
Sizewell new nuclear plant under review
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Can you grow the economy and tackle climate change at the same time?. Yes. New @CarbonBrief analysis is a great counter to the degrowth doomsters who say it can't be done
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4/ They’ve said they remain committed to net zero by 2050, but look set to renege on a host of policies that were in put in place by Conservative Governments to get us there.
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7/ This week I'm meeting businesses in my home county of Yorkshire - and along with @Sam_Dumitriu and @J_D_89, I’ll be meeting people in every part of the country over coming months, while developing policy positions on areas such as energy, transport, and housing.
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We're building a wind turbine, powering a party, and taking it down, all within a week. We've got the tech we need to cut bills - we just need to get the red tape out of the way.
Can you build a wind turbine in just one day?. We're in Hackney with @OctopusEnergy to prove we have the technology to tackle climate change and reduce energy bills. We just need to eliminate the planning barriers holding us back.
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It's been incredible meeting people right across the country over the last year. The message from our supporters has been clear: let's crack on and build the new sources of energy, new transport links, and new homes we desperately need.
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1 in 5 councils that have declared a climate emergency have blocked a clean energy project
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11/ And sign up for updates on the campaign via our website
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We’ve done the hard part – we built renewable energy when it was expensive. Turning away from it now it’s cheap - and just as the rest of the world is doubling down on wind and solar – would be mad:
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It's great the Government says it backs the "builders not the blockers". They clearly get that planning reform is the only way they'll deliver on their clean energy and housing targets. But I'm beginning to worry they don't (yet, at least) have a plan to get Britain building.
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It’s right for the new Chancellor to check that every infrastructure project is delivering value for money for taxpayers, but cutting capital spending risks undermining the Government's objectives on both economic growth and climate change.
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Yesterday I sat on top of one of the tallest wind turbines in England. Those tremors you can detect in my voice are categorically not terror at the height - but frustration at the ban on building new turbines: the cheapest source of power.
🚨What's it like going to the top of one of the tallest wind turbines in England ?. Watch and find out 📹👇
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This morning @Keir_Starmer set out how our planning system blocks investment in Britain. East Anglia 2 wind farm had over 4,000 planning documents - not pages, documents. Last month we were in Liverpool to make a simple case: let's speed it up, let's get building.
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As the Government launches GB Nuclear, I’m at Wylfa in sunny Anglesey!. Speaking to folk in the pub here last night they’re desperate we crack on and build a new nuclear reactor on the island. They know it will bring clean cheap energy, and good quality, long term jobs
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Creating a new department is broadly pointless - unless the Government is willing to overhaul the planning system at the same time. You can’t make the UK energy secure - or hit our net zero targets - when it takes up to 13 years to build a new wind farm.
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A reason to be cheerful - the raw economics of cheap clean energy means Chinese emissions are set to fall next year and could have peaked for good.
NEW. China's CO2 is to fall in 2024 – & could be facing structural decline – after record clean energy growth reached the level needed to meet rising demand. Latest analysis by @laurimyllyvirta for @CarbonBrief . 1/2
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This is a big deal. NFU call for British farming to lead the world and go net zero emissions - carbon neutral - by 2040.
Big development for climate change and land use as @NFUtweets president Minette Batters calls for net zero greenhouse gas emissions from farming by 2040 #OFC19 #ORFC19.
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Across energy, transport, housing - it’s too hard to build anything. The result is our bills are higher, housing less affordable, and we lose out on the good jobs that come with building new infrastructure and new industries. We need to get building.
+ @samrichardswebb of @BritainRemade opens a @ConHome mini-series on growth. The planning system is holding growth back, he writes – and must be made to let go
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If we make it easier to build new wind, solar, and nuclear by reforming environmental assessments (and at the same time focus them on funding nature restoration rather than paying lawyers) we can have abundant, cheap clean power this decade
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@SimonClarkeMP Equally, Remain "lies" about an immediate Punishment Budget, £4,300 a year worse off etc. Remainers claim to a monopoly on truth and virtue helped sink the campaign and is contributing to the deep divide in our country.
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We should significantly reduce the cost of new nuclear energy by streamlining planning rules. There’s nothing inherent in the technology that means it needs to be as expensive as it is now – reactors built before 1995 cost half what British plants being constructed now cost.
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That’s why we’re launching the @BritainRemade petition - calling on Rishi to drop the ban. Building new onshore wind farms in England would:.-cut our energy bills ⚡️.-make British industry more competitive🧑🏭.-make us less reliant on imported gas 🇬🇧.(2/4).
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Good to be back at the old office today! More coming soon on what this was about…
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The @BritainRemade boffins have done it again - this time on nuclear costs. Why is building nuclear so expensive in Britain, and how do we get costs down? Read the thread below to find out.
New @BritainRemade research has analysed data on every nuclear power station built in the 21st century. Our bleak conclusion: It costs more to build a new nuclear power station in Britain than almost anywhere else in the world. (Thread)
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Renewable energy is cheap and getting cheaper. The historic costs of renewables are not the future costs of renewables – i.e. many of the subsidies that were put in place that have added costs to bills e.g. Feed in Tariffs have now been removed precisely because costs have fallen
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A disappointing Budget for the environment. Uncertainty on carbon price will stall investment in new clean tech. No mention of econ opportunity from (or route to market for) cheap renewable power. No money to upgrade leaky housing stock or new standards to future-proof new homes.
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So I am delighted @Ed_Miliband has done what his predecessor failed to do and approved the Sunnica energy farm, Mallard Pass Solar Project and Gate Burton Energy Park.
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Delighted to launch the Powerbook today with cross party support from @Ed_Miliband, @SimonClarkeMP, and others, containing 25 practical policies to get us energy secure by 2030. More details below….
1/ In 2022, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused gas prices to rise by 400%, ushering in the sharpest fall in living standards since records began. How have we got to this position? How do we change that? 🧵.
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A truly bizarre speech. Good, potentially hugely significant news on planning and grid buried underneath delay on EVs that creates more uncertainty for auto industry, and a whole pile of policies that weren’t going to happen have been scrapped.
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Please, just a crumb of supply side reforms.
. @samrichardswebb @BritainRemade has one obvious suggestion as to how the government could help ease inflation a little.
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Uxbridge result underlines political reality - net zero has to make voters lives easier and can’t add additional pressures to household bills. The good news is reforming planning so we can roll out more clean energy won’t cost us a penny – and will actually cut bills.
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The Government has again delayed the dualling of the A1 north of Morpeth. This expansion was promised 9 years ago. It's still waiting on planning permission. The way to tackle climate change isn't by making it harder for people to drive - it's by making it easier to go electric.
Grim that the Government has AGAIN delayed taking a decision on whether to go ahead with widening the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham
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Spot on @SimonClarkeMP “It is frankly mad that we have a policy framework that totally blocks onshore wind in the UK”
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Deliberately disingenuous. Claire Perry, the Minister who attends Cabinet & is responsible for climate change mitigation attended the summit.
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Huge congrats to @SimonClarkeMP and @ZacGoldsmith. The @CEN_HQ caucus’s loss is the country’s gain. Two of the most thoughtful, hardworking, and greenest conservatives at the heart of Government.
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How the Conservative Party responds to Labour's planning reforms will determine whether it is ready to win again in 2029 - me in @ConHome .
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There's a real risk the largest offshore wind farm in the world doesn't go ahead if the Government doesn't change tack on tax and planning
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Household bills over the last 3 years would have been significantly higher if we had not built out the renewables we have over the last 14 years. It’s good news that we only got half of our power from gas (and not all of it!) during the energy crisis when it was very expensive.
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Fab launch of the CEN Membership and MP Caucus yesterday with @michaelgove. Huge thanks to all our Ambassadors, friends, and supporters who came along. Make sure you don't miss the next party - sign up today!
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Our rubbish framework of environmental protections is making us poorer, stopping us tackling climate change, *and* failing to protect nature. A new strategic, zonal approach to environmental protections could stop the daft £100m bat tunnels *and* better protect bats.
"There are no indicators which are improving in both the long and short term". There are some positives in today's nature indicators, but it's clear that huge political effort is needed to halt nature's decline. Nature-positive planning can help, alongside #netzero development.
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We teamed up with @createstreets to figure out where the Government’s new towns should be and how they can get them built. @Ben_A_Hopkinson reveals all in the thread below 👇.
For the first time in 50 years, there is a national commitment to a new generation of new towns. But as history shows, the location and design of new towns is critical to their success. @BritainRemade and @createstreets's new report shows where and what new towns should be 🧵
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After speaking to people across the country we think we’ve got a plan for how we can unlock new onshore wind farms while still taking local concerns into account. @Sam_Dumitriu will be writing on this tomorrow… (3/4).
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We think our energy bills are too high to ban the cheapest source of electricity. If you agree – sign our petition (4/4)
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This is a big win for the thousands of @BritainRemade supporters who signed our petition calling on the Government to lift the ban on the cheapest source of power. Thank you. Huge thanks also to MPs like @SimonClarkeMP who have campaigned tirelessly on this. Let’s get building.
NEW. Tory onshore wind ban set to be lifted today with immediate effect. Gov spox: "We will be laying a WMS to bring into force with immediate effect changes to planning policy with regard to onshore wind.".
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Not only is a batcave worth of Bruce Wayne a prime example of why everything costs so much to build and nothing gets done on time - it's also a really bad way to protect nature. We can get building and better protect nature - but we need to reform our planning system.
Our planning system is bat-shed insane. From a £340,000 per bat tunnel to 4,000 documents to open a wind farm, @samrichardswebb explains to @BBCPolitics that we must recapture the Victorian spirit of building if we want economic growth, cheaper bills and new infrastructure.
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1) It doesn’t and 2) It doesn’t.
This is the most underreported news story today. It means significantly higher consumer energy prices and the prospects of the lights going out.
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Progress on a number of fronts in the Net Zero Strategy today - but our planning system is still holding back our ability to cut emissions and cut bills.
"The challenge is our planning system, which holds back investment in these new cheap sources of clean energy. If we lift these planning barriers, like the ban on onshore wind, we'll see the private sector flood in with investment". @samrichardswebb on the Net Zero Strategy 👇
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On Tuesday, @Mark_J_Harper can grant permission to dual the A1 with the stroke of a pen. Join our campaign and let's get it built! .
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What do we do when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine? We burn gas! But we need less of it than if we didn’t have any turbines or solar panels in the mix. And we also use hydro storage, and will use hydrogen for power and more batteries as their costs keep falling
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The ideas in our piece would not only boost growth and are backed across the centre right - they would be popular right across the country.
Ten ideas for boosting economic growth that are politically and fiscally possible - and have backing from across the centre right. A call for action in today's @Telegraph from me, @rcolvile, @s8mb, @NJ_Timothy, @racheljanetwolf, @samrichardswebb .
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These renewable energy projects will deliver secure and abundant domestic energy to power hundreds of thousands of homes. Let’s get building.
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They're running out of time to deliver on their ambitions. They need to publish their Planning Bill asap - and to deliver on their ambitions the Bill needs to contain reforms to environmental protections, judicial review, and consultations.
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There’s no magic gas tap we can turn on - we would have turned it during the energy crisis. The north sea is a declining basin despite our longstanding policy of maximum economic recovery. Relying on gas for electricity (and to heat our homes) means relying on imported gas.
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Energy geeks - some *very* interesting polling of MPs on energy bills coming out from @ECIU_UK tomorrow. .
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Missing from this piece is the stark reality of the choice we face: we can either be world leaders in tackling climate change, or we can build the third runway. We can't do both.
From @JustineGreening and @ZacGoldsmith: Wrong scheme, wrong place – Heathrow’s third runway should never take off
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Wales is building more and more cheap onshore wind…and England is being left behind. Let’s get building!
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Great meeting to discuss blocking new clean energy. In entirely unrelated news - it sure is flooding a lot these days!
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It’s me, complaining about how long it takes to build news sources of energy. This time in the sea.
🛥️We're in the North Sea, launching Powerbook for Scotland, our plan to ensure Scotland plays its part in making Britain energy secure by 2030. 📽️👇
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They haven't said how they're going to stop bonkers outcomes like the £100m HS2 bat tunnel happening again. They haven't said how they're going to stop new infrastructure getting stuck in the courts. And Ministers are now delaying more projects than the last Government. .
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Really enjoyed opening @CEN_HQ net zero conference this morning. The science is clear: to halt climate change we need to go net zero.
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This is so poor from HMT. The idea that there will be no technological progress between now and 2050 and no reductions in costs of clean tech just doesn't match up with the HUGE reductions in the costs of renewables over the past ten years.
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