CAMPAIGNING NEWS ... TAVISTOCK NORTH
Plymouth Lib Dems have been joining forces in support of Pete Squire in Tavistock.
12 Feb 2022
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Another week of Chaos in Downing Street
Yet another week where the Prime Minister has floundered, and the Country has struggled.
EN
12 Feb 2022
Tesco in Bookham High Street?
Tesco have applied to Mole Valley District Council for a premises licence at the old Co-op building at the top of Bookham High Street. The consultation closes on 4thMarch.
12 Feb 2022
Johnson must go.
The agony goes on. Johnson limps on. Hanging on to power is all. The latest proverb doing the rounds is: "When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace becomes a circus." I have seen better run circuses, and the No10 circus is spending all its time and efforts trying to keep its hold on the slippery pole. There are headline grabbing announcements which promise great things but are empty promises. New money is recycled old money.
LG
12 Feb 2022
A long update from ECRE
Channel: Macron Calls on UK to Offer Safe Routes, Home Office Prioritises Crackdown on "Illegal Migration" and Mothballs Afghan Resettlement, Squatters Protest French Policies France says it wants to strike a deal with the UK on Channel crossings that would combine returns and resettlement. UK officials continue to focus on combatting "illegal migration" via deterrence and criminalisation of people on the move. After promising to resettle 20,000 people from Afghanistan, resettlement spaces are being filled with people already in Britain as the Home Office faces criticism for high accommodation costs. Activists in Calais are occupying a 10-storey building to protest the persistent French evictions of makeshift camps. In parallel, 32 NGOs have denounced ongoing "mistreatment and violence" against refugees resulting from Franco-British cooperation.
CB
12 Feb 2022
SAY NO TO OFFSHORE DETENTION
If given the power, will Priti Patel send children - along with everyone else seeking asylum in the UK - to hidden offshore camps, in distant countries?
CB
12 Feb 2022
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
