Energy crisis: Ed Miliband grilled on 'nationalisation' of companies

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Mr Miliband, who was also Gordon Brown’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary, appeared on several shows this morning accusing the Government of putting Britain in an energy crisis. This winter, millions of homes around the world are facing little or no power because supplies of coal, gas and oil used to provide energy are in alarmingly short supply. In Britain, the crisis has led to energy companies going bust with homes and businesses struggling to pay soaring costs and bills.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Mr Miliband described the current energy market as “deeply inadequate,” and called for “public ownership” to solve the apparent issue.

In light of reports that the Government is considering loan proposals to help businesses deal with the sudden and dramatic rise in energy prices, Mr Miliband also called for further support for the affected industries.

His comments come after he claimed last week that the UK is facing an energy crisis “because we haven’t built a resilient energy system”.

He said: “If we were really moving on energy efficiency insulating homes, we could cut gas demand cut bills and cut carbon emissions, so the answer is to move on all of those fronts.”

But some have asked what Mr Miliband did during his time in power to achieve this.

Steve Hawkes, Director and Senior Vice President for Issues and Public Affairs at Burson, posted on Twitter: “Ed Miliband on Today speaking the energy crisis.

“Energy policy has been a shambles for years but I’d love to know what the former Labour Government did when he was Energy Minister in 2008 to build more capacity.”

Others were quick to point out that numerous green levies were introduced by Labour – from taxes to help fund domestic solar panels and windmills and subsidies for strict European greenhouse gas limitations.

Experts warned Mr Miliband in 2013, that by 2020, 33 percent of household electricity bills would go towards green taxes.

They said it could mean consumers would have had to pay £270 extra a year to fund some green initiatives imposed by Mr Miliband.

Twitter user @KulganofCrydee, said: “Ed Miliband added to our energy bills with green levies.

“More of Ed Miliband’s and Labour’s hypocrisy.”

Another, under the username @a2__1t added, added: “The interview of Ed Miliband was typical of BBC.

“Never mind what Tory policy is, what did Labour do over 10 years ago?”

And @BalthazarBlaze stated: “When [Keir] Starmer tries to block any discussion of green policy motions at conference, I don’t think Labour is in a position to talk about taking climate change seriously.”

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The Government appears to now be trying to tackle the issue by introducing a tax on fossil fuels.

The controversial move is contained in a new strategy due to be published ahead of next month’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

But that too could prove costly for Britons as they have been warned it could add £170 a year to gas bills.

The strategy will reportedly include measures to boost the sale of heat pumps, which currently cost about £10,000, compared with £2,000 for a gas boiler.

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