Energy Secretary Ed Miliband pledges to lift millions out of fuel poverty

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has pledged to lift more than a million renters out of fuel poverty as part of the Government’s plans to boost energy efficiency standards by 2030.

Labour’s warm homes plan aims to make properties across the country cheaper to run by installing new insulation and rolling out solar panels on rooftops.

Mr Miliband said Labour intends to go “further and faster” than its manifesto pledge by raising standards in the social housing sector, in addition to the private rented sector.

Ahead of his speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool, he said: “We all know that the poorest people in our country often live in cold, draughty homes.

“It is a Tory legacy. It is a Tory scandal. It is a Tory outrage. This Government will not tolerate this injustice and we will end it.

“And because being Labour means we raise our sights to tackle injustice, we will go further and faster than promised in our manifesto: ensuring every rented home reaches decent standards of energy efficiency.

“Warmer homes, lower bills, over one million people lifted out of fuel poverty. That’s the difference a Labour Government makes.”

The Government has committed to consulting tenants on its warm homes plan by the end of this year.

Mr Miliband later received applause from delegates as he announced the changes during his speech.

He also told conference about the Government’s desire to “take back control” of energy policy, in a nod to the slogan popularised by Brexit.

Speaking about the mission for “clean power” by 2030, Mr Miliband said: “Onshore wind, solar power, offshore wind, nuclear, tidal, hydrogen, carbon capture – an armoury of clean power.

“Friends, I tell you this, while the Tories left us weak and vulnerable, this Labour Government will break the power of the petrostates and dictators over our energy policy.”

He added: “We can, we must, we will take back control of our energy policy.”

Environment Secretary Steve Reed, also speaking during the clean energy superpower session, said: “We’ll clean up our rivers, back our farmers, restore habitats for wildlife and end the throwaway society.

“There’s no foundation we have to fix that’s more important than nature because everything else depends on it.

“The next generation must have the same chance we had to look up at the night sky and wonder. Our legacy will be to give our children back the natural world that is their birth right.”