Energy minister says AI must ‘bring down bills’ as data centres squeeze the grid Tech Power-hungry data centres must help bring down bills rather than place further strain on Britain’s squeezed electricity network, the energy minister has said. Michael Shanks warned public support could drop for the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure unless households saw a clear economic benefit. “We need to deliver energy security here at home, but we [...]
Industry bodies call on Burnham to bring down energy bills to fire up growth Energy Andy Burnham’s government must slash green levies on companies’ energy bills and bring forward support for energy-intensive industries if it wants to fire up Britain’s economy and win over a sceptical private sector, two of Britain’s largest industry bodies have said. In a joint report published today, the CBI and Energy UK called on the [...]
Ignore the green gloomsters, climate change is a huge opportunity for Britain Opinion We do not solve a warming planet by lowering our standard of living, raising taxes and making ordinary people poorer. We solve it with engineering, enterprise, adaptation and abundance, says Albie Amankona For decades, the British national pastime has been complaining about the weather. We have endured centuries of grey, damp, drizzling misery, huddled around [...]
‘Corbyn was spot on’: The radical MP shaping Burnham’s economic agenda June 29, 2026 Miatta Fahnbulleh is one of Andy Burnham’s key confidants, spearheading his agenda on energy, devolution and the cost of living. Policies the MP for Peckham has previously endorsed suggest the country is in for a sharp leftward lurch, writes Ali Lyon. The red wall had been demolished. Boris Johnson, imperious. And Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour movement [...]
The world needs an answer on climate finance – it’s London June 22, 2026 The UK is the largest market globally for project-level financing for clean energy, the biggest in Europe for private investment in green tech, and has topped the global green finance centre rankings for eight consecutive edition, says Dame Susan Langley As the City of London Corporation marks the fifth instalment of the Net Zero Delivery [...]
Beware a desperate Prime Minister in search of a legacy June 18, 2026 From Theresa May to Rishi Sunak and now Keir Starmer’s, Prime Ministers have long sought to ban things just before leaving Downing Street, says Tom Harwood Is it too soon to write the Prime Minister’s obituary? As Keir Starmer returns from his latest bout of wining and dining with world leaders in Évian-les-Bains by Lake [...]
The climate quango empire will keep growing until cheap matters more than ideology June 9, 2026 Net Zero has generated an ever-larger bureaucratic apparatus operating at arm’s length from ministers, insulated from accountability and immune to the question of whether it is actually working, says Anne Strickland Ed Miliband frequently claims that net zero is the economic opportunity of the century. A theory that collapses the moment you open your energy [...]
Burberry delays climate pledge by a decade to 2050 May 29, 2026 Burberry has pushed back its net zero target by a decade, becoming the latest blue-chip business to water down ambitious climate goals set in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, City AM can reveal. The high-end fashion firm, known for its trench coats and tartan scarves, made the decision to delay its target to become [...]
Tony Blair is the only sensible voice left in Labour May 28, 2026 After reading Tony Blair’s essay on the state of Britain (and the state of the Labour party) I was struck by the realisation that large parts of it sounded as if they’d come straight out of one of my own columns. Regular readers will know that I’ve often used this slot to point out the contradiction [...]
‘Exceptionally challenging’: Starling puts climate target under review May 21, 2026 Starling has placed its target to reduce carbon emissions by one-third by 2030 under review after it cited “exceptionally challenging” roadblocks in its mission. The UK fintech – which published its annual report on Thursday – had targeted achieving net zero across the financial services group by 2050. On the road to this goal, the [...]