‘We can help people take control of their energy security and bring down energy bills permanently.’
Deputy leader of the Lib Dems Daisy Cooper MP has announced a new household energy-efficiency loan scheme that the party says it would fund through a windfall tax on banks.
Cooper said the Lib Dems are calling for the creation of a new “energy security bank”, which would provide homeowners and small businesses with loans to invest in energy-efficiency initiatives.
The St Albans MP also said that the Lib Dems would create dedicated lending schemes to install solar panels in supermarket car parks, which she claimed could power entire cities such as Bristol or Nottingham.
Cooper delivered a scathing critique of the Conservatives for scrapping climate initiatives while they were in government, such as solar panel subsidies, the requirement for all new homes to be Net Zero and selling off the Green Investment Bank.
The policy would provide up to £10 billion in energy-efficiency loans. Cooper said the loans would pay for themselves, but require £2 billion to be put aside to provide government-backed guarantees.
Homeowners could borrow up to £20,000, while businesses could access loans of up to £50,000.
Cooper said the Lib Dems would pay for this through a windfall tax on banks, arguing they have reaped huge profits from the interest generated by quantitative easing.
She said that via this policy: “We can help people take control of their energy security and bring down energy bills permanently.”
She condemned them for being “shamelessly locked in a race to the bottom with Reform UK”, with Kemi Badenoch wanting “to go all in on oil and gas production”.
Cooper said “we must call out Nigel Farage, who falsely claims that renewables drive up prices when it’s renewables that bring them down.”
She added: “We must call out those who peddle climate myths and would have us left at the mercy of global gas markets.”
The Lib Dems will also call on the chancellor to extend the VAT exemption on all energy-saving materials, which will end on 1 April 2027, for another 3 years.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.
