5 hours ago
14
It looks unlikely that Labour will emerge as the largest party at the next general election (though it’s by no means impossible). If just one term is Labour’s destiny, what legacy will it leave behind? There is already in the making one great success that can’t be reversed, the transition to homegrown clean energy. This is a true “taking back control” escape from the clutches of febrile oil and gas markets. Indeed it might become such a political success that it could rescue Labour’s electoral fortunes.
Historically it may come to be recognised as equivalent to the 1948 creation of the NHS, with Ed Miliband the Nye Bevan of our day. He has fought his cause in much the same ruthless way Bevan did. He faces the same ferocious (and politically deranged) opposition from the right, who will have to eat their hats over rejecting renewables. Just as the NHS is a prime reason for pride in Britain, we can expect the same national pride in homegrown energy independence, freeing us from rollercoaster markets and mercurial foreign oil and gas dictators: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump or ayatollahs.
That’s the vision in Miliband’s rallying speech today, a future that looks achievable, as he will announce a “sprint to build clean power at scale on the public estate” with faster uptalke of solar and electric vehicles (EVs). After two devastating energy shocks in five years, electrifying Britain with homegrown renewables has become “the only route to financial security, energy security and national security,” he says. Trump’s war with Iran demands action because every solar panel, every wind turbine, every heat pump, every EV on the road makes the UK more secure. This link between clean energy and national security throws off the idea that green policy is weak, fluffy, lefty, wokery, when it is basic national defence.
The great success of the NHS was not just in its direct service – but in the way it removed uncertainty and fear about the cost of illness from ordinary Britons. In the same way, homegrown energy will eventually stop energy bills soaring unpredictably, wrecking household budgets and causing so much stress in the process. This plan could make energy a source of confidence and national pride rather than worry.
Good news is rare in these bleak times, but in green energy there are good things happening: contracts have just been signed for small modular reactors, the biggest nuclear building programme in half a century. The last two rounds of renewables auctions will secure enough clean, UK-generated power for 23m homes. The largest-ever solar project in the UK has been approved, plus investments in hydrogen, floating wind and wind turbine manufacturing.
Renewables have gone from generating 7% of electricity in 2010 to nearly 50% now. Last year the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions hit their lowest point since 1872. Last month wind generation was up 38% on March 2025, saving £1bn worth of gas imports, says Carbon Brief. The target to generate 95% of electricity from renewables by 2030 is tough, but “within reach, provided the government stays the course,” says the independent Climate Change Committee.
Miliband’s single-minded firmness of purpose, including in driving policy against nimby resistance has made him the party’s most popular cabinet minister among members by far.
His backing from Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer has brought massive state and private investment. And today Reeves will announce loosening the system by which electricity prices are too often set by the price of gas.
Can Miliband’s glowing vision of energy independence mollify the pain of rising bills? Democracy thinktank More in Common finds public awareness of the government’s efforts to bring bills down “almost nonexistent”. Telling people the government has saved them from yet higher prices doesn’t impress: people blame the greed of energy companies and feeling exploited feeds “the anti-system attitudes that are driving voters away from the established parties”.
The dishonesty of Reform and the Tories’ call for maximum North Sea drilling is breathtaking, with the price of oil and gas fixed internationally. But opposing parties know that governments take the hit for rising bills, even when foreign wars or Wall Street bankers are to blame.
Here is the great red/blue divide. Kemi Badenoch is making her U-turn against 2050 net zero her defining stand. Despite her party signing Britain up to it, she calls the Climate Change Act’s emissions targets “fantasy politics”. In 2022, as government minister, she said green industries were “crucial to reaching net zero”. Now she stalks Nigel Farage step for step. Oddly, the Greens are downplaying green policy, which seems unmentioned so far in local election leaflets.
The public still backs net zero with 60% support, with even Tory voters 48% for, 37% against. But how the public votes with its feet will matter most: March saw the best ever EV sales in the UK, now cheaper than petrol cars on average. And last month Octopus Energy reported a 50% rise in solar panel sales and a 30% rise in heat pump sales.
Miliband needs all his driving force to get this green vision up, running and recognised by the public. Just as Bevan created the NHS within three years of being in office, both projects require huge investment despite the hardest of economic times. The NHS is one great legacy of Labour, a monument to what it can achieve. This should be another.
-
Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?
On Thursday 30 April, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour faces from the Green party and Reform UK – and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader. Book tickets here or at guardian.live -
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
