Labour ditch plans to ban new gas boilers from 2035 – despite drive to ramp up the use of heat pumps_Nhy
Labour has ditched plans to ban new gas boilers from 2035, despite its drive to ramp up the use of heat pumps.
Ministers will press ahead with a de facto ban on installing gas boilers in new homes, but have scrapped a plan that would have stopped people replacing existing gas boilers with new ones.
However, the Tories warned it could be a ‘bait-and-switch’ move by the Government, ahead of the introduction of a ‘boiler tax’.
A total ban on new gas boilers from 2035 had been promised by the last Tory government.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said at the time that people would not be ‘forced’ to rip out their existing boiler and replace it with a heat pump, but would ‘have to make the switch’ when replacing a boiler.
Before the election, Labour energy spokesman Ed Miliband suggested he would scrap the rule, adding: ‘We haven’t stuck with the Government’s 2035 target when you can’t replace your gas boiler. I know that we’ve got to show that heat pumps are affordable and are going to work for people.’
Ministers are now set to formally ditch the plan, the i newspaper reported.
But Labour is preparing to impose swingeing taxes on boiler manufacturers if they fail to meet targets for installing heat pumps.
Labour has ditched plans to ban new gas boilers by 2035, opting instead for a de-facto ban on the appliances in new homes (file photo)
A total ban on gas boilers had been planned for 2035 in a bid to drive up installations of heat pumps
Industry sources branded the targets ‘unachievable’, but Mr Miliband signed them off regardless and they are set to come into force in April.
A similar plan was scrapped by the Conservative government last year after the sector warned it would add £120 to the cost of a new boiler – leading it to be dubbed the ‘boiler tax’.
Tory energy spokesman Claire Coutinho told the Mail last night: ‘I’m afraid this is just a bait-and-switch from Labour as next week Ed Miliband will be introducing a boiler tax which will allow him to meddle with the price of boilers – effectively pricing families out of installing one by adding hundreds of pounds to the cost.
‘Consumers should be allowed to choose what works for them. Instead, families are facing a storm of new costs from a new grocery tax to the family holiday tax and the eye-watering price tag of Ed’s energy plans.
‘There is no justice in making ordinary Britons poor in the name of Net Zero.’ Labour will lay secondary legislation next week to introduce the targets.
Labour is still preparing to impose swingeing taxes on boiler manufacturers if they fail to meet targets for installing heat pumps
The new targets are set to come into force in April, amid previous warnings that they could hike the cost of a new boiler by £120
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: ‘The energy shocks of recent years have shown the urgent need to upgrade British homes and our warm homes plan will make them cheaper and cleaner to run, rolling out upgrades from new insulation to solar and heat pumps.
‘We will not force anyone to rip out a working boiler and are making heat pumps more affordable by providing £7,500 towards the cost through the boiler upgrade scheme. We recognise there is still more to do to encourage consumers to switch to low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps and have recently announced plans to remove planning constraints to make them easier to install.’
More details on how the switch to low-carbon heating methods will work will be set out later this year in the ‘warm homes plan’. It will include a ‘future homes standard’, which is expected to require all new homes to be heated with heat pumps or other forms of renewable-powered heating.
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Tory MP mixes up non-existent boat from James Bond film with real Royal Navy warship in blundering bid to grill officials about repairs
Tory defence chief James Cartlidge may have got his naval facts shaken, not stirred, after mixing up a fictional James Bond boat with a real Royal Navy warship.
In a blunder worthy a ‘licence to confuse’, the Conservative MP asked the Ministry of Defence about the cost of fixing the non-existent HMS Devonshire.
The fake warship was sunk by the villain in 1997 Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, which starred Pierce Brosnan as 007.
Meanwhile, the last British naval vessel named HMS Devonshire was sunk in 1984 for target practice in the Atlantic. It was built in the 1960s.
But Mr Cartlidge – who until July was the man in charge of buying Britain’s military kit, as defence procurement minister – used a parliamentary question to grill Labour Defence Secretary John Healey about repairs to ‘HMS Devonshire’.
The Shadow Defence secretary had reportedly meant to ask about HMS Northumberland, a Type 23 submarine hunting frigate, which was axed during defence cuts in November.
Last night he joked the blunder was to see if the Ministry of Defence was using AI to screen parliamentary questions.
But writing in November, Mr Cartlidge asked: ‘What estimate he has made of the cost of repairing structural damage to HMS Devonshire?’
Tory defence chief James Cartlidge may have got his naval facts shaken, not stirred, after mixing up a factional James Bond boat with a real Royal Navy warship (pictured is Pierce Brosnan as 007 in Tomorrow Never Dies)
Pictured is the fictional warship HMS Devonshire from the James Bond film
The last HMS Devonshire (pictured) in the Royal Navy fleet was sunk in 1984 after being used as target practice in the Atlantic
The Sun reports that Labour defence bosses inside Whitehall toyed with the idea of issuing a flippant James Bond-inspired response.
However, they also wondered whether the 50-year-old MP was asking about the cost of salvaging the wreck of the last Devonshire from the ocean floor.
Instead, Maria Eagle – the current defence procurement minister – simply replied: ‘There is no ship of the name HMS Devonshire currently in service with the Royal Navy.
HMS Westminster, a real Type 23 frigate, was used to portray the interior of the fake HMS Devonshire, and the two other fictional Royal Navy ships featured in Tomorrow Never Dies, HMS Chester and Bedford.
Mr Cartlidge has since claimed he intentionally made the blunder to see if officials at the MoD were using AI to reply to questions from MPs.
‘I’m pleased to say they passed the test on this occasion,’ the Tory last night told The Sun.
‘Following confirmation in a separate written answer that submissions to the much vaunted Strategic Defence Review will be read by AI, it’s fair to say we’ve been testing… they are still being read by humans.’
HMS Northumberland was axed as part of a series of swinging cuts to the UK’s defence capabilities announced by Labour in November.
Tory defence chief James Cartlidge (pictured) has since claimed he intentionally made the blunder to see if officials at the MoD were using AI to reply to questions from MPs
The MP had reportedly meant to ask the MoD about HMS Northumberland (pictured), a Type 23 submarine hunting frigate, which was axed in November.
In a shocking move, 31 frontline helicopters and a pair of Commando assault ships were axed.
A Royal Navy frigate and a pair of ‘fast fleet tankers’, which provide fuel for aircraft carriers, are also being chopped as part of the jaw-dropping plans.
The decision by Defence Secretary John Healey was met by fury and disdain.
Sources said the cuts delivered entirely the wrong message to Britain’s enemies and allies such as the United States.
The timing was also challenged as it coincides with the US ramping up its support for Ukraine – and as other NATO members are boosting their military capabilities.
One senior naval figure remarked: ‘Try telling Donald Trump these helicopters and ships were getting old and were costing more to repair, he’ll only hear that Britain is making cuts’.
Announcing the cuts in Parliament, Mr Healey told MPs: ‘I recognise that these will mean a lot to mean who have sailed and flown in them during their deployment around the world, but their work is done we must look now to the future.
‘We’re in a new era of rising global tensions, we need a new era for UK defence. To achieve this, the Government is investing £3bn extra next year and setting a clear path to 2.5 per cent, driving far-reaching reform, fixing the foundations for our armed forces to make Britain better defended, strong at home, secure abroad.’
MailOnline has approach Mr Cartlidge for comment.
