Ed Miliband scorns SNP 'fairy stories' on green energy

Published on Friday 15 April 2011 18:48

ED Miliband has accused First Minister Alex Salmond of dreaming up "fairy stories" over a controversial SNP pledge to find 100 per cent of Scotland's energy from renewable sources.

In an interview with The Scotsman, Mr Miliband, a former energy secretary, said Mr Salmond's plan to power the country from renewables by 2020 "stretches credulity", insisting politicians have to be "realistic" about the future of energy use.

But he was last night accused of hypocrisy by Mr Salmond, who said the Labour leader knew nothing about the potential in Scotland's renewables sector.

It also emerged that Mr Miliband himself had been criticised for setting "unrealistic" targets on renewables in a critical report by MPs last year on the UK Department for Energy and Climate change, which he headed when in office.

The cross-party report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said that a commitment under Mr Miliband to source 15 per cent of the UK's energy from renewables by 2020 had been made without "clear plans" for how to do so.

The Labour leader was speaking during a visit to Aberdeen and Dundee yesterday as he sought to bolster the party's campaign ahead of the 5 May Scottish election, and a day after the SNP launched its manifesto for a second term in office at Holyrood .

At that launch, Mr Salmond revealed an SNP government would aim to secure all of Scotland's energy needs from renewable sources by 2020, double the target compared to two years ago.

The First Minister said that such a boom would see Scotland generating twice as much energy as it required, with vast surpluses to be sold to England.

But Mr Miliband, who led the UK government's delegation at the Copenhagen climate change talks in 2010, said that such a target was out of bounds.

Asked if he admired Mr Salmond's ambition, he said: "I admire anyone who comes up with policies which are credible but the trouble is that his pledge on renewables stretches credulity, frankly."

He added: "People are getting used to pledges and policies from Alex Salmond that he then doesn't keep. We are front and centre in pushing forward renewables and that is a central part of what Iain Gray has been talking about. But when the CBI call it pie in the sky then you know it isn't a credible pledge. It is more hot air from Alex Salmond."

He went on: "It's not leadership to pretend to deliver something you can't. That is just telling people fairy tales."

Similar complaints were made of the UK's own target-setting last year by Westminster Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Labour MP Margaret Hodge.

It concluded that Britain's progress on meeting renewables targets had been "unacceptably slow". Referring to a legally binding EU target to supply 15 per cent of all energy from renewable sources, signed when Mr Miliband was energy and climate change secretary, it concluded: "We are concerned that the department agreed to the target ... without clear plans, targets for each renewable energy technology, estimates of funding required or understanding how the rate at which planning applications for onshore wind turbines were being rejected might affect progress."

A spokesman for Mr Salmond said last night: "Having been attacked for his own renewables targets, Ed Miliband stands accused of hypocrisy.

"He has revealed that he is wholly ignorant of Scotland's energy sector and massive renewables potential."

He added: "Labour's obsession with trying to foist dirty and dangerous nuclear power on Scotland simply confirms that Iain Gray is London-led.

"We need to generate large quantities of renewable power, not just for Scotland but to export energy to our neighbours, and we have the ability to generate vastly more energy across the range of non-nuclear technologies than our own peak demand."

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Miliband said that a Labour administration in Holyrood would be best at standing up against the Tory-led government at Westminster, in what is becoming Labour's central campaign theme."David Cameron says There Is No Alternative, but Iain Gray is showing there is a practical real alternative," he said.

He added: "What the Scottish government needs to do is to stand up against the Tories, both in the policies it pursues and the message it sends." The SNP could not do this, as Mr Salmond was "distracted by independence".

He also defended the party's campaign against claims it is seeking to turn attention solely on to the Tory-led administration in Westminster, in order to divert attention away from the choice between the SNP and Labour in Edinburgh.

He said: "The UK government has a profound effect on Scotland whether it is higher VAT or cuts to tax credits."

The election, he said, was "about who can best stand up as head of the Scottish government against a Tory led government in Westminster".

He claimed that what David Cameron "feared most" was Labour back in power.

On the SNP's pledge to freeze the council tax for five years, he claimed the SNP were offering a "false promise". However, he did not comment on whether Labour's two-year freeze would not therefore be extended.

l Earlier, Mr Miliband was accused of trying to hide the fact that he was travelling first class after aides removed train seat covers for a television interview.

Before the camera started rolling his team carefully stripped off headrest covers bearing first class symbols.

A Labour source said: "The idea we were trying to hide the fact we were travelling first-class is ridiculous. There was a great big sign saying it on the window."

Spot the difference...

"The committee is concerned that the legally binding target to deliver 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020 may be unrealistic"

• Margaret Hodge, chair, Public Accounts Committee on Ed Miliband's green energy guarantees

"It's not leadership to pretend to deliver something you can't. That is just telling people fairy tales. Why don't we be realistic and credible about what you can achieve with renewables."

• Ed Miliband on Alex Salmond

Miliband on . . .

The Holyrood election: "While David Cameron says there is no alternative, Iain Gray is showing there is a practical real alternative."

Libya: "Libya's best future lies without Gaddafi. We must stick to the terms of the UN mandate and show that this is not about removing Gaddafi by force. We have to find other ways to put pressure on the Libyan regime."

Imminent weddings: "You mean mine? They're going fine."

Holidays in Scotland: "I came on holiday here as a kid near Loch Fyne with my parents."

• Leader of the Scottish Greens Patrick Harvey will be taking part in a live webchat on scotsman.com on Monday, April 18 at 12pm.

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