The last few months have seen an impressive shift in public discussion on how to address climate change. Thanks in large part to newly-elected democratic socialist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the concept of a “Green New Deal” has come to the fore. This marks a significant move away from previous policy ...
One of the most popular elements of Labour’s 2017 manifesto was the pledge to return energy to public ownership. At last year’s conference John McDonnell said “Rail, water, energy, Royal Mail—we’re taking them back”. This makes it sound like he’s pledging to renationalise energy, but examining Labour’s manifesto policies it quickly becomes clear that he is either being deliberately misleading or displaying a stunning lack of understanding of how the energy sector functions in this country. The fragmented energy system Labour propose would fail to address the key problems with privatisation as it would leave the electricity market in place.