Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer set to launch Scottish-based Great British Energy with pledge on bills

Labour is pledging it will get working within months of election victory to build clean power that will “turn the page” on the cost-of-living crisis.

Sir Keir Starmer will warn that “family financial security depends on energy security”, accusing the Tories of failing to make Britain resilient, as he launches the logo and website for Great British Energy at an event in Scotland with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.

Labour’s pledge to set up a publicly-owned company to invest in domestic power sources – part of the party’s six-point “first steps” policy – aims to tackle the cost-of-living crisis by cutting energy bills.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

Early investments by Great British Energy will include wind and solar projects across the UK, as well as making Scotland a world leader in new technologies such as floating offshore wind, hydrogen and CCS, Sir Keir is pledging.

Labour plans to fund the company, which will be headquartered in Scotland, through a windfall tax on big oil and gas firms, with an initial £8.3 billion capitalisation over a parliament.

It comes in the wake of the energy price shock which saw costs soar in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Labour says that in the last two years a typical family paid £1,880 more on energy bills than they would have done if prices had stayed the same, while the Government spent £94 billion of taxpayers’ money on capping energy costs.

The party says the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned that if the UK remains dependent on gas, families and taxpayers could see a repeat of the recent crisis, and accused the Tories of leaving households at risk of a £900 annual energy price spike.

Sir Keir said: ”Family financial security depends on energy security.

“The pain and misery of the cost-of-living crisis was directly caused by the Tories’ failure to make Britain resilient, leaving us at the mercy of fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators like Putin.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Our clean power mission with Great British Energy will take back control of our destiny and invest in cheap, clean homegrown energy that we control.

“We will turn the page on the cost-of-living crisis. The choice at this election is clear: higher bills and energy insecurity with the Conservatives, or lower bills and energy security with Labour.”

Ed Miliband, shadow energy security and net zero secretary, said: “Great British Energy will kick-start our mission for clean power to lower bills and boost our energy independence.

“It’s time to move on from the Tories’ bone-headed opposition to clean energy, for which British families are paying the price.

“The choice at this General Election is clear: higher bills and energy insecurity with the Conservatives, or lower bills and energy independence with Labour.”

Claire Coutinho, Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, accused Labour of an unfunded promise with its plans for Great British Energy, that would cost taxpayers, and attacked the party’s moves to stop new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, claiming it would hit jobs.

“By sticking to the Conservatives’ clear plan, energy bills are at the lowest point since 2022, but we must go further.

“That’s why we are taking bold action to guarantee the future of the energy price cap, as we back new nuclear power and offshore wind, keeping bills low and ensuring families are not lumbered with the cost of reaching net zero,” she said.

Friends of the Earth’s head of policy, Mike Childs, said: “Labour’s pledge to develop the UK’s enormous homegrown renewable energy potential is great news that will help to power the transition to a green economy that we so urgently need.

“But the party mustn’t rest on its laurels just because it has one strong green policy. We’re yet to hear how it intends to tackle the enormous carbon pollution created by transport and heating our homes, for example, which can be addressed by rolling out a nationwide programme of insulation, funding the switch to heat pumps, and delivering a true public transport renaissance.”

He called on all parties to strengthen their green commitments.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir has set out Labour’s “down payment” to Scotland’s voters as he promised a “decade of national renewal”.

However SNP leader John Swinney demanded any incoming Labour government holds an emergency budget immediately after the General Election to bolster NHS funds.

Sir Keir is to launch his party’s first six promises to Scotland ahead of the July 4 vote. It includes a pledge to deliver economic stability to keep taxes, inflation and mortgages as “low as possible”, while investing in the NHS to tackle waiting times.

Sir Keir said: “For too long Scotland has been failed by this out of touch and incompetent Tory Government – but change is possible with Labour.

“Labour will deliver a decade of national renewal and the steps set out today are our down payment on that promise.”

However, Mr Swinney claimed Sir Keir is “offering no change at all” and has challenged the Labour leader to produce an emergency budget to reverse “Tory austerity cuts”.

Mr Swinney said: “The Tories have trashed the economy and decimated funding for public services.

“The SNP is calling for an immediate emergency budget following the election to deliver the real change that people in Scotland want to see – more funding for the NHS, the reversal of Tory austerity cuts and meaningful investment in economic growth, including green energy.”