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Ed Miliband said he is “not anticipating” cuts to GB Energy ahead of the chancellor announcing the biggest spending squeeze on Whitehall in years.
The energy secretary told Sky News Breakfast with Anna Jones that his department got the largest funding settlement in the October budget because Rachel Reeves knows clean power “is the root to grow our economy”.
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He also accused Tory leader Kemi Badenoch of starting a “culture war on climate” with her recent claim that reaching net zero by 2050 is “impossible” without a decline in living standards.
“She’s completely wrong and I think she’s way out of step with the British people,” said Mr Miliband.
“I don’t think the British people want a culture war on climate, which I think is what she wants.”
Mr Badenoch’s comment creates a big dividing line with Labour, who made setting up a state-owned clean energy company, GB Energy, a flagship promise in their manifesto.
It has been promised £8.3bn of capital over this parliament, with the money to be invested in clean power projects that the government hopes will bring household energy bills down by £300 annually by 2030.
Only £125m was allocated for the project in the October budget for 2025-26 and there has been speculation that the overall funding promised could be cut as Ms Reeves needs to balance the books in her spring statement on Wednesday.
But Mr Miliband told Sky News: “I’m certainly not anticipating cuts in Great British Energy. We made a manifesto commitment of around £8.3bn investment in GB Energy. The plan is to…
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