Nuclear plants to be built faster in UK-US energy deal September 15, 2025 Nuclear plants could come online faster in a new deal between the UK and the US aimed at boosting growth in the sector and bolstering energy security. Under plans set to be signed off during US president Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK this week, the time for a nuclear project to get a [...]
This is why Starmer’s recent reshuffle is doomed to fail September 11, 2025 Keir Starmer’s personnel switch-up is an attempt to get a firmer grip on his government’s economic policymaking. Helen Thomas lays out why it won’t work. Keir Starmer’s latest cabinet reshuffle was billed as a decisive break from his choppy first year in power. Yet this is less a bold national reset than a desperate rebrand. [...]
The public won’t reward government overspending – just ask Ed Miliband September 10, 2025 Ed Miliband went on and on about the cost of living crisis in 2015, but he lost that election because the public could see his sums on spending didn’t add up. Cuts, not tax rises, are the only way to avert a crisis, says John O’Connell We are in a cost of living crisis. Aren’t [...]
A Treasury reshuffle on the eve of a Budget is a bad sign for Reeves September 1, 2025 Handing responsibility for the economy to a man who was director of policy for Ed Miliband is a sign of desperation from Rachel Reeves, says Eliot Wilson Every time I see a new announcement from Rachel Reeves at the Treasury now, it puts me in mind of the poet Stevie Smith: “I was much further [...]
Investors should steer clear of Ed Miliband’s clean energy auction August 7, 2025 Labour’s upcoming AR7 renewable energy auction risks locking in higher energy costs for decades, as political support for net zero falters and public resistance to green subsidies grows, says Maurice Cousins Today applications open for the government’s latest renewable energy auction, Allocation Round 7 (AR7). In Whitehall, it is just another technocratic acronym. But for [...]
Smart Pension invests £330m into Octopus Energy fund as Mansion House Accord bears fruit July 29, 2025 Smart Pension has made a £330m investment into two funds managed by Octopus Energy in an early sign the Chancellor’s Mansion House Accord is beginning to bear fruit. The pensions firm, which has more than £7bn in assets under management, said the commitment will represent 5 per cent of the portfolio of its default fund, [...]
Sizewell C gets £38bn sign-off with support of Centrica and France July 22, 2025 Energy secretary Ed Miliband has signed off on a £38bn deal to build Sizewell C, with Canadian investment fund La Caisse, British Gas owner Centrica and French state companies lining up to back the nuclear power station. In a final decision signed off by Miliband, the government has agreed to be the largest equity shareholder [...]
Ed Miliband rules out zonal energy pricing July 10, 2025 The UK government has ruled out the introduction of a zonal energy pricing system that would have seen regions closer to renewable energy sources likelier to see lower prices. Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has opted to reform the existing system by reviewing the way transmission charges work and incentivising the [...]
National Wealth Fund to put £28m into carbon capture project July 7, 2025 A government -backed fund is pledging more than £2 for a carbon capture project. Energy secretary Ed Miliband has said that workers in “Britain’s manufacturing heartlands” will benefit from the investment in the Peak Cluster works. Peak Cluster is working towards a pipeline that will take carbon emissions from cement and lime companies in the [...]
Taxpayers on the hook for at least £1bn after Lindsey oil refinery closure July 4, 2025 British taxpayers could be forced to pay up more than £1bn following the collapse of the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire last week. Sources told the Times HMRC is owed unpaid taxes of around £250m, while the facility’s decomissioning costs could run from anywhere between £700m and £3bn. At least 420 jobs were put [...]