The Government is on a mission to drive the future forward – and we won’t make you pay for it like Labor did

IMAGINE a world where there is unlimited clean energy and zero pollution.

Our lights, heaters, televisions, dishwashers, washing machines, ovens and cookers are all operated cost-effectively and at no cost to the environment.

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This future isn’t just science fiction – it’s within our grasp if we can unlock the potential of fusion energy.

The government is investing more than £700 million to make Britain a global center for fusion – electricity generated from the heat of nuclear reactions.

This week I visited our world-leading scientists at the UK Atomic Energy Agency who are working hard on this.

Here in the UK we can be proud that we are leading the way in creating the high-skilled, well-paid jobs of the future.

The development of nuclear fusion, along with all the technologies we have already used, is just one of many parts of our plan to meet our energy needs in the coming decades.

Holds us for ransom

Ensuring energy security for families across the country remains one of the most important tasks of any government – ​​because it underpins our resilience and prosperity as a nation.

It drives our country’s success – growing the economy, creating jobs, and protecting people’s ability to live their lives the way they want, without fear.

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By transitioning to cleaner, domestic forms of energy – such as nuclear, wind and solar – and ending our dependence on importing foreign fossil fuels, we will prevent tyrants like Russia’s Vladimir Putin from holding us to ransom.

Investing in new green technologies will also help us grow the economy, create quality jobs and reduce billing costs for families and businesses.

And it will help secure the deep and enduring conservative principle that we must protect what we value for our children and their children.

There is no greater legacy we can leave to future generations than protecting our natural environment and ensuring access to cheap, clean energy.

Our global leadership in climate finance and clean technology means we can invest in the technology of the future like fusion.

This gives us enormous influence on the world stage.

Because we have the skills and infrastructure here in the UK, we can help solve this global challenge and reduce global emissions.

In my first speech as an MP I promised to work for our environment and I promise that now too.

We can be proud of the global leadership we have shown in adapting so far – we have made more progress than any comparable country.

In 2010, when Labor left office, just seven per cent of our electricity was generated from renewable energy.

At the beginning of this year it was almost 50 percent.

This Conservative government has built the four largest operational offshore wind farms in the world.

We are reviving nuclear power, reversing years of Labor neglect and short-termism.

All of this strengthens our energy security for the future, but also stimulates our economy now.

In 2021, almost a quarter of a million people worked in low-carbon jobs across the country, generating sales of more than £50 billion a year.

It’s jobs like these that have led us to reduce emissions.

But, dear Sun on Sunday readers, it is important that I be honest with you.

Despite the huge progress this Government has made, in the UK we are only responsible for one per cent of global emissions.

Simply put, we cannot do this alone and hard-working families should not be forced to change their lives or placed on additional financial burdens.

But that’s what Labor doesn’t understand – you can’t punish people to get to net zero – you have to take people with you.

It’s no use just saying you’re going to close Britain’s oil and gas industry, eliminating tens of thousands of jobs across the country and making us all poorer.

Unfortunately, this is not understood by the Labor Party, which is supported by the same people who support disruptive protest groups like Just Stop Oil.

Unlike Sir Keir Starmer, who always takes the easy way out, I understand that we cannot achieve anything by simply forcing people to stop doing the things they want to do, such as going on holiday abroad drive.

To do so would be unconservative and contrary to everything I stand for.

False Ulez tax

Most importantly, it won’t work.

That is the difference between us and the Labor Party.

We could meet Labour’s 2030 net zero target – a target that no country in the world has yet set – but it would send our companies overseas and leave people literally in the dark.

The NHS would collapse and the economy would be destroyed.

They pursued a topsy-turvy Ulez expansion tax, hitting the worst off hardest.

Their plans for £28bn of borrowing will mean higher taxes, higher inflation and higher prices for households.

This is a fight that will define the coming decades, and we are in it for the long haul.

If you don’t find a policy that takes people along, you leave the door open for extremists.

We have seen the reaction across Europe, where extremist parties are adopting heavy-handed measures that hit the poorest hardest while displacing businesses.

Our duty as conservatives is to advance pragmatic policies that engage people.

That is what I will do in my new job and that is what this Prime Minister will do.