Jeremy Corbyn unveils Labour plan to fit solar panels on nearly two million homes
2 min read
A Labour government would fit nearly two million British homes with solar panels in order to slash energy bills for low income families, Jeremy Corbyn is to announce.
The Labour leader will outline plans to provide a million social homes with the environmentally-friendly systems in a bid to save householders an average of £117 a year on bills.
An additional 750,000 households will be given the chance to have them installed through a programme of interest free loans, grants and changes to regulations.
Any unused electricity generated by the panels will be used by the national grid, which Labour will take into public ownership, according to Mr Corbyn. Labour said that would save councils an additional £66m per year.
Mr Corbyn will say that the policy will create 16,900 jobs and cut back on more than seven million tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of taking four million cars off the UK’s roads.
Speaking in Yorkshire alongside Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, the Labour leader will say that “environmental destruction” and inequality “must be tackled at the same time".
“In this country, too often people are made to feel like the cost of saving the planet falls on them. Too many think of green measures as just another way for companies or the government to get money out of them, while the rich fly about in private jets and heat their empty mansions.
“Labour’s approach is different. Our Green Industrial Revolution will benefit working class people with cheaper energy bills, more rewarding well-paid jobs, and new industries to revive the parts of our country that have been held back for far too long.
“By focusing on low income households we will reduce fuel poverty and increase support for renewable energy. Social justice and climate justice as one.”
The proposal comes weeks after Mr Corbyn held an opposition day debate and vote - which MPs backed - calling on the UK Parliament to become the first to declare a climate emergency.
He said the world faced a climate crisis that would “spiral dangerously out of control” unless action was taken immediately, adding: “We are talking about nothing less than the irreversible destruction of the environment within our lifetimes.”
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