Labour pledges to insulate two million houses in first year

Labour’s Shadow Energy Secretary has said that, if elected, Labour would aim for two million household upgrades in the first year of a decade-long £60 billion scheme that could save households £400 on bills annually.

Ed Miliband said that it is ‘shameful that [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson and [Chancellor] Rishi Sunak are refusing to take the action needed to help’ families facing the steepest rise in energy bills on record.

He said that part of the reason for sky-high bills was ’12 years of failure’ to back energy efficiency upgrades, which have dwindled from nearly 2.5 million a year to a tenth of that, after funding cuts that followed David Cameron’s 2013 pledge to ‘cut the green crap’.

Stressing that Labour would make energy efficiency a ‘national mission’, Miliband said that his party would cut average bills, which are on track to soar to more than £2,500 later this year, by up to £400, as well as eliminating Russian gas imports and supporting jobs.