“We need to roll back some of the green regulations and charges,” Mr Cameron said during Prime Minister’s Questions. --The Daily Telegraph, 23 October 2013
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to signal a major shift in energy policy today as he told MPs that the Goverment should “roll back” costly environmental regulations and charges brought in by the last Labour government. In a move likely to put him at odds with the Liberal Democrats, Mr Cameron said that green regulations introduced by Mr Miliband as Energy Secretary, which add to household energy bills, would have to be ditched. “We need to roll back some of the green regulations and charges that push up our bills. We all know who put them in place,” he said. --Philippe Naughton, The Times, 23 October 2013
Green taxes on household energy bills will fall next year despite Liberal Democrat objections, David Cameron's aides have said. Downing Street said that George Osborne's Autumn Statement in December will set out plans to reduce the impact of environmental levies on fuel bills. The Lib Dems have previously vowed to prevent any fall in green levies during this Parliament. But a source close to Mr Cameron insisted: "One way or another, the Prime Minister is determined to roll back those green taxes." The Lib Dems reacted angrily, calling the Prime Minister's announcement a "panicky U-turn". -- James Kirkup and Peter Dominiczak, The Daily Telegraph, 23 October 2013
The petrochemical plant at the giant Grangemouth complex in central Scotland is to close with the loss of about 800 jobs, owner Ineos has announced. The news was broken to the workforce at the plant and its associated oil refinery at a meeting on Wednesday. Ineos said a decision on whether to restart the refinery would be taken once the "threat of strike action" had been removed. Scotland's first minister said the closure "matches our worst fears". The Unite union described the closure as "catastrophic". --BBC News, 23 October 2013
Ineos, the chemicals group, is considering shutting down its plant in Grangemouth, Scotland, due to rising costs and the decline in production of gas from the North Sea. Its chairman singles out energy costs, which he says has been driven up by high environmental taxes on consumers. In a rare interview, chairman Jim Ratcliffe told the Financial Times that Grangemouth was “at a crossroads”. “To have a future, it needs cheap feedstocks . . . and a sensible cost structure,” he said. “If we can’t resolve those issues, it would need to shut down.” --Financial Times, 6 September 2013
Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive of Ineos, one of the world’s largest chemicals groups, says the danger is that some companies, especially manufacturers, will move to places where energy is cheaper. “It’s fine being very, very green, but not if you’re interested in manufacturing,” he says. “The UK is already disadvantaged on the wholesale cost of energy, and then it puts taxes on it. Anybody who’s an energy user is just going to disappear.” --Financial Times 14 October 2013
As energy prices continue to rise the government is under growing pressure. The tragedy is that any genuine solution to the largely self-inflicted energy fiasco will not be considered let alone enacted any time soon. It is doubtful that Britain’s policy makers are ready to admit that climate policy and the world’s energy outlook have changed radically and that a reassessment of outdated assumptions is now required. I’m afraid it will get worse, much worse, before it will get better. --Benny Peiser, The Spectator, 19 October
