Gove gives green light to gas drilling in Surrey area of natural beauty
The Liberal Democrats have criticised Michael Gove for giving the go ahead to gas drilling in Surrey.
9 Jun 2022
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Final Week of Registrations - Solar Together Bedfordshire
Bedford Borough Council, in partnership with Central Bedfordshire and Luton Councils has launched Solar Together Bedfordshire, a scheme to encourage residents to come together to invest in renewables through a group-buying scheme for solar panels and battery storage.
9 Jun 2022
Gloucester Lib Dems announce shadow cabinet
The Liberal Democrat group on Gloucester City Council form the opposition to the Conservative administration. Their leader is Cllr. Jeremy Hilton who has recently announced his shadow cabinet. The seven member team will shadow the Conservative cabinet until the elections in May 2024 when they hope to take control of the city council. Until then they will provide constructive opposition. Cllr. Jeremy Hilton said: "We are currently stuck with a poorly performing Conservative administration that has already had three resignations from the cabinet in recent months. They are struggling to cope and it's our job to provide constructive challenges to their policies or lack of them. We want the best for Gloucester. "There are seven of us in our shadow cabinet. I call them 'The Magnificent Seven'. Besides challenging uninspiring plans being proposed by the cabinet we shall also be working up our policies to form our 2024 manifesto to rebuild council services on taking control." Deputy leader, Cllr,. Declan Wilson said:
9 Jun 2022
A final note from the Chair
The world we know is in serious trouble and needs our help.
KM
9 Jun 2022
Final week of registrations - Solar Together Bedfordshire
Bedford Borough Council, in partnership with Central Bedfordshire and Luton Councils has launched Solar Together Bedfordshire, a scheme to encourage residents to come together to invest in renewables through a group-buying scheme for solar panels and battery storage.
9 Jun 2022
BoJo’s desperate Monday letter to his MPs
On Monday 6th June Boris Johnson wrote to all the conservative MPs. The letters were hand addressed, signed by himself and sent just before they would vote on his survival as PM. The text of the letter makes interesting - and actually entertaining reading. Reproduced in italics is about a quarter of the letter with our comment in bold.
8 Jun 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!”
