KEIR Starmer faces questions over an election campaign promise he made that GB Energy would reduce household bills by £300.
The Government on Thursday morning appeared to back away from the figure with the Prime Minister’s spokesperson repeatedly refusing to repeat the Labour leader’s election claim.
But Starmer later insisted he stood by the campaign trail promise as he faced renewed scrutiny over the project with the introduction of legislation to get it started.
During a visit to a factory in Widnes, Cheshire, Starmer was grilled on the election pledge and asked whether he was still promising voters their bills would come down by £300.
He said: “Yes I do – I stand by everything in my manifesto and one of the things I made clear in the election campaign is because I wouldn’t make a single promise or commitment that I didn’t think we could deliver in government and that’s why we carefully costed and funded everything in our manifesto.
“That does depend on early firm decisions being made, which is why we’ve set up GB Energy, why we’ve announced the partnership today with the Crown Estate and why the energy secretary has already taken action in week one in relation to onshore wind, in relation to solar energy and also pushing on with nuclear. So I stand by that commitment.”
But speaking to reporters in Westminster, his spokesperson repeatedly refused to back the figure, saying only that the actions taken by the Government would deliver “bill reductions” over the course of the next five years.
Further doubt on the claim was sparked by Ed Miliband’s (above) media appearances on Thursday, where the Energy Secretary also appeared reluctant to put a figure on the amount households could expect to save.
The Government argues that the creation of Great British Energy can “break the link to international fossil fuel markets and deliver cleaner and cheaper energy, reducing bills”.
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson added: “It's going to take time, we’re not going to be able to deliver this overnight but if you invest in clean energy you will start to see lower bills very quickly.”
Asked about when people could expect to see their bills reduce, Miliband told BBC Breakfast: “Within a couple of years, as we build new onshore wind, new solar, we’ll start to see the effect on bills, but there are lots of things going on here.
“So our exposure to gas prices, which are set internationally, is something I don’t control.”
The Scottish Greens said the Government must come good on promises about “breaking the link between gas and electricity prices”.
Co-leader Patrick Harvie (above) said: “That is how we can cut bills straight away, making zero-carbon technology affordable for more people, and making it cheaper and easier to warm our homes and buildings with clean, green renewable energy.”
He warned that GB Energy must not “become yet another cash cow for private investors” or a “nuclear money-pit”.
