Political View: Why Peterborough’s green revolution must outpace Westminster’s policy flip-flops

The Labour leaning magazine, New Statesman, recently estimated that there have been at least 12 such "flip flops" on policy since the Government took power in 2024. Some of the more memorable ones were rowing back on changes to eligibility for pensioners winter fuel allowance, almost total abandonment of reforms to social security benefits, scrapping the two child benefit cap, failing to honour promises to compensate the WASPI women, scaling back on proposals to introduce digital id requirements of all job applicants etc etc.

And you could make the figure even higher if you include the run ups to both of Rachel Reeves' budgets, when countless ideas have been leaked to the press and then dropped when there was a negative reaction from the public. On numerous occasions journalists have alleged that either the PM or some other minister has "lied" by allegedly failing to honour a previous promise.

So is this a national scandal or is it just what people have come to expect from our political leaders? We need to bear in mind that circumstances change or maybe a party gets into office and finds out new information that they were not aware of when in opposition.

In such circumstances, would we really want our government to carry on regardless and deliver what they had promised, even if it was no longer the best policy, for whatever reason? So sometimes a "U Turn" is necessary and even desirable.

I think what the public does have a right to demand is that their Government has clear policies and objectives and clear strategies for achieving them. The Labour Government of Tony Blair in 1997 seemed to have and articulate a clear vision for a "New Britain", whether you agreed with it or not.

By contrast, Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government of 2024, whilst having almost as big a majority as Blair, seems more lacking in clear direction. The flip flopping on relations with Europe and lurching to the right and then back again on immigration and asylum are but two examples of this.

Even on their "big issue" of investment in the NHS, they have a plan and are putting billions of funding in but totally fail to tackle the related gross under funding of adult social care. I think, nearly two years into a Government's term, people have a right to see more of a sense of purpose and direction.

Yet one minister stands out from the pack and shows what could be done with a bit of vision: Ed Miliband at Energy and Climate Change is pursuing massive investment in solar and wind energy, which in time will give the country greater energy security, bring down energy bills and help us tackle climate change, all at the same time.

Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch's cynical abandonment of commitments and targets on tackling climate change shows that there is an "alternative" but it's one that would leave people living in colder homes and reliant on foreign dictators for access to diminishing oil and gas supplies.

Here in Peterborough, our emerging local plan and the Council's net zero ambitions gives our City an opportunity to be at the forefront of the "green energy revolution".

We should where possible be going beyond minimum government requirements and encouraging more people to have solar power on the roofs of their homes and heat pumps for heating. And the price of batteries is now so low that installing them in homes could give people an ability to store and later use cheap overnight electricity, whether they have solar panels or not.

That is true citizen empowerment: enabling people to help themselves and their families to get warmer homes and lower bills. And the Council needs to encourage more large scale solar and wind energy generation in Peterborough and creation of the grid infrastructure to service it.

One thing I found out recently was that the Council itself doesn't yet itself use a green energy tariff to supply electricity to it's own buildings. That's certainly an embarrassing anomaly that needs to be investigated.