For Public Ownership of Energy
Conference notes:
Energy bills are rising to nearly £3,000 per year, leaving 8.5 million households unable to heat their homes.
Oil and gas companies have handed out almost £200 billion to shareholders since 2010.
Privatised National Grid has a monopoly on gas transmission across the UK mainland and electricity transmission in England.
The energy bill crisis highlights the need for radical measures to defend and improve living standards and exposes how our energy system is organised.
Labour’s 2021 and 2019 Conferences voted overwhelmingly for “public ownership of energy including energy companies, creating an integrated, democratic system”, and “public ownership of energy, creating an integrated democratic system; public ownership of the Big Six” respectively.
Conference believes:
Full public ownership, democratic control and radical reorganisation of the energy industry are necessary to tackle the climate crisis, and for social, ecological and security reasons. Our energy system should work for all, not just a handful of shareholders.
The leadership should immediately advocate for this as part of a socialist Green New Deal.
Conference resolves Labour will campaign for and implement:
Full public ownership of the energy industry, including the National Grid and regional distribution, on the lines of the 2021 and 2019 Conferences’ policies so it works for people and planet, not private profit.
A permanent windfall tax on oil and gas companies like Shell and BP at a 56% rate (on top of corporation tax), using revenue generated to expand publicly owned renewables, and cease subsidising energy supply companies.
Submitted to Momentum Policy Primary by: Bristol Momentum, Stevenage Momentum and Southampton Momentum