Author Archives: Ed Davey

Ed Davey

Ed Davey: I have just returned from the Middle East

By Ed Davey | Thu 29th February 2024 - 7:59 pm

Ed Davey has been on a visit to Israel and Palestine. He has sent out this email:

I’ve just returned from a visit to Israel and Palestine.

The 7 October attacks and the ongoing conflict and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza have affected so many lives. They have also had a profound impact on many communities here in the UK.

I felt that it was vital to travel to the region and meet with those whose lives have been turned upside down these past few months, and speak to politicians and civil society leaders about how we get to an immediate bilateral ceasefire and a two state solution.

In the past few days I’ve heard the stories of people whose lives have been changed by this conflict: Itzik Horn, whose two sons are right now being held hostage by Hamas; Palestinians whose lives in the West Bank are now a misery, thanks to settler violence and huge restrictions on their ability to work and travel.

I also met the United Nations Humanitarian Agency, UNOCHA, hearing about how vital it is that the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza is ramped up immediately.

You can read all about my visit to the region, as well as what we’ve done as a party since 7 October, here:

Read more  ➜

Since my return, I’ve called on the UK Government to sanction two far-right, extremist Israeli ministers who are figureheads for the illegal settler movement, a movement that wants to ensure that a two-state solution is impossible, in breach of international law.

Read more  ➜

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey’s New Year message

By Ed Davey | Sat 31st December 2022 - 11:00 am

Happy New Year! There’s a lot to look back on fondly in 2022:

  • The wonderful Jubilee street parties that brought communities together after so long kept apart by Covid.
  • The Lionesses brought football home at Wembley, and the men’s team put on a brilliant run at the World Cup too.
  • And another fantastic by-election victory for the Liberal Democrats!

But it has been a very difficult year too:

  • Vladimir Putin’s appalling war that has claimed the lives of thousands of brave Ukrainians.
  • Political chaos in the Conservative party, inflicting economic chaos on the rest of us.
  • And, of course, the very sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. The end of a truly magnificent reign.

The New Year is an opportunity to turn the page and look ahead. And although things are tough for millions, I sense change is possible – so I look to the New Year with hope and optimism.

In 2023, we can look forward to a truly historic and joyful occasion for our family of nations: the coronation of our new King. Another chance for people to come together and celebrate in our communities and – hopefully – under clear skies.

So for 2023, I wish you and your family all the best. Let’s hope it’s a year of fresh starts – in more ways than one.

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey’s Christmas message for 2022

By Ed Davey | Sat 24th December 2022 - 8:00 am

Merry Christmas! I love this time of year. The cards, the carols, the chocolate, but most of all the chance to spend time together as a family – to celebrate together, to have fun together, give thanks to one another and to give thanks to God.

For me, the message of Christmas is for us to treat others – as we would wish to be treated and the symbol of Christmas is light – the light of hope, in the darkest week of the year. Hope that we all desperately need for these most challenging of times.

So from my family to yours: We wish you a Christmas full of love, joy and peace. And hope for a better future.

And we keep in our hearts those who are less fortunate – who will spend this Christmas without the comfort of family. Whether they have lost loved ones or been separated from them by war and destruction. Let’s give them the gift of hope this Christmas too.

Happy Christmas.

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey: The Battle for Liberal Britain

By Ed Davey | Thu 3rd March 2022 - 8:32 am

The Conservatives disappearing into infighting and cheap populism has left the Liberal Democrats with our biggest opportunity in generations. As our stunning by-election wins in Chesham & Amersham and North Shropshire proved last year, we can provide a political home for thousands of former Tory voters who are decent people dismayed by the party’s incompetence, scandals and sleaze under Boris Johnson.

And the stakes have never been higher. Around the world, populism and nationalism – liberalism’s enemies – are on the rise. There is a battle for Liberal Britain and to win it, Liberal Democrats must offer a clear vision for the future of our country.

But people constantly ask me: “what do the Liberal Democrats actually believe?” I don’t think we as a party have answered that question – or in recent years, even asked it of ourselves.

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey writes: I want to rebuild our party and take on the Tories

By Ed Davey | Tue 25th August 2020 - 5:23 pm

As we wrap up the Liberal Democrat leadership election, I wanted to thank the thousands of people who have taken part in hustings, sent in questions to the campaigns and engaged in this contest.

It’s absolutely right that there is a robust process that properly tests our next leader, and makes sure that whoever wins on Thursday has been put through their paces by the party. Whatever happens later this week, I know that Liberal Democrats will come together and turn our hand to doing what we do best, getting out campaigning and standing up for communities up and down the country.

If you haven’t returned your ballot yet then there is still time to vote for me so that we can rebuild our party on solid foundations, and campaign for a fairer, greener and more caring society. That’s my vision for the future of our party, and I know I’ve got the experience we need to deliver it. 

With your support, I want to rebuild our party and take on the Tories, and put more Liberal Democrats in town halls, council chambers and Parliaments right across the country.

But we have to be realistic with the challenge that we face. Even a quick glance at our election review will tell you that the next leader, whoever it is, will be taking on a big job. There are deep, structural challenges that the party faces and it will take time for us to fix the problems Dorothy Thornhill identified in her review, and put the party in the best place to get back to winning elections.

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey writes: Putting Liberalism at the heart of diversity and anti-racism

By Ed Davey | Sun 26th July 2020 - 9:30 am

Earlier this month, an open letter was published to both leadership candidates about race and diversity. I promised in the comments to publish a full response, because this is an issue that I take incredibly seriously. Our party’s record on diversity is poor – and when it comes to representation of Black and Asian communities it is unacceptable. It will be a central purpose of my leadership to sort this – working with people inside and outside our party. 

Two years ago, the Alderdice Review, set out the problem with great clarity – with clear recommendations for sorting the problem. Yet the Thornhill Review of the 2019 General Election rightly concludes progress has been glacially slow. This work now needs to be super-charged. 

It does require leadership from the top – the top of every level in our party. 

Take my constituency of Kingston and Surbiton. It is the most diverse of any constituency we currently hold in Parliament. And after 20 years of working with our large Tamil, Korean, Pakistani and Gujarati  populations, we now have one of the most diverse party memberships in the country and 8 out of our 38 councillors have BAME backgrounds. 

And while I know we still have much more to do, I do think my experience leading this local effort will be useful in the nationwide effort we must now urgently engage in. 

The key to our success in Kingston has been hard work – going out to listen and engage with every community in our area. I personally visit our mosques, Hindu temples and churches very regularly – indeed, for our Sikh community, I even helped them establish Kingston’s first gurdwara. And I’m a regular at the schools many of our diverse communities hold every Saturday to teach different languages and cultures – from Urdu to Arabic, Korean to Tamil. 

It’s this reach out I would lead and would ask every local party to lead. As a party, we have to do better than simply stand with our arms open and then hope people will come to us.

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Ed Davey

A Green Revolution is the recovery plan we need

By Ed Davey | Wed 24th June 2020 - 10:30 am

Too many political leaders would let us sleepwalk into a global catastrophe.

Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have never cared about the climate emergency. They will trash world agreements in favour of pursuing their dangerous ideologies and serve only those with vested interests in oil and coal.

But despite this, I’m an optimist. 

I’ve taken on Conservatives in government before – and won for our environment. As Secretary of State for Climate Change I oversaw the near quadrupling of Britain’s renewable energy, I smashed the monopoly of the ‘Big 6’ companies on the energy market, and I saw the creation of 250,000 of new green jobs in all corners of the UK.

As Liberal Democrats, we owe it to our children and grandchildren to fight for our planet. Future generations must inherit a world where everyone can breathe clean air, where making the green choice is a natural choice, and where our reliance on dirty fossil fuels is a distant memory. We need a Green Revolution.

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Ed Davey: We fought the good fight – now what next?

By Ed Davey | Thu 30th January 2020 - 8:26 pm

This is the text of the speech given by Ed Davey today in Manchester.

Good morning.

For the last four years, the Liberal Democrats fought to stop Brexit.

We held street stalls, town hall meetings and we marched in our millions.

Today we stand strong in the knowledge that we did everything we could.

Tens of thousands of people got involved with our campaign. People who had never campaigned before. And old hands, campaigning harder than they ever had before.

We fought with good humour and great energy. We fought because we love our country.

Our pro-Europeanism is built on our patriotism.

So I will always be proud of the

…

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Ed Davey

A Christmas message – the movie

By Ed Davey | Tue 24th December 2019 - 11:33 am

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Ed Davey

A Christmas message

By Ed Davey | Tue 24th December 2019 - 10:01 am

Happy Christmas! I’ve got three big tasks this Christmas.

First, my daughter’s present. Ellie wrote to Father Christmas with her present wish list.

The good news was Santa collected her letter. And he ate the mince pie! Although he did leave some tell-tale crumbs.

The bad news is I now have to get Santa to bring three live unicorns.

It’s my own fault – I bought Ellie this snow globe unicorn last year. But I’m not sure where to start looking for a live unicorn. So I’m thinking of ringing the Prime Minister. Apparently Mr Johnson does a good line in unicorns.

But my second task is easier. To celebrate my own birthday. I wasn’t born in a stable – my mum had me, at home, at ten past eight Christmas morning 1965.

Apparently my dad cooked the Christmas lunch. And my mum ate seconds. And afterwards, they all watched the Queen’s Speech – her Majesty’s Christmas message.

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey MP writes….My reflections from the Campaign Trail

By Ed Davey | Tue 16th July 2019 - 11:55 am

This map may resemble the route of one of Ian Botham’s never-ending charity walks or the British leg of the Tour de France where the organiser forgets to place a finishing line. But it’s actually a record of my campaigning odyssey over the past year, through our fantastic local and European elections onto my campaign to become leader of our party.

I’ve loved every minute – from Aberdeen to Penzance. Like my hero Paddy Ashdown and indeed most Liberal Democrats, I’m happiest out of Westminster meeting people – or, when with our brilliant Brecon candidate, Jane Dodds, meeting the odd sheep while clambering barbed wire fences. (Have you been to B&R yet?!)

I’ve been gate-crashed in Nottingham by Steve Bray, the amazing Stop Brexit campaigner – so we performed a great Stop Brexit duet; I’ve climbed a wind turbine in North Cornwall whilst campaigning to decarbonise capitalism; and I’ve endured the vagaries of the rail network – as I’m calling for rail improvements to discourage internal flights, my campaign is flight-free, to the occasional frustration of my diary manager.

On Sunday, after a head-to-head with Andrew Marr, I sacrificed all prospect of watching the Cricket and Wimbledon to go and speak to members in Oxford – and was welcomed by a healthy crowd, despite the competition!

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey writes…World Refugee Day: Restoring compassion and dignity

By Ed Davey | Thu 20th June 2019 - 12:00 pm

Today is World Refugee Day – when we celebrate the amazing contributions that refugees make to the social, cultural and economic life of our country, and raise awareness of the 29 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world.

Every minute, 30 people are forced to flee their homes to escape the horrors of war, violence or persecution.

This is the biggest refugee crisis in history. The number of refugees has doubled in the last fifteen years. More than half of them are children. Over 6 million refugees are from Syria.

The UK has a long and proud record of providing asylum to seekers of sanctuary – from Jews escaping Nazi Germany to Sri Lankans, Somalians and Syrians fleeing civil war.

But now, the Conservatives seem determined to make our asylum system as cruel and unwelcoming as possible.

The clearest example is the inexplicable ban on asylum seekers working while their claims are processed. Thousands of people are left waiting for months for a decision, dependent on a government handout of £37.75 a week.

Allowing asylum seekers to work is a no-brainer. It’s good for them, good for businesses and good for taxpayers. That’s why the Liberal Democrats have tabled legislation to give asylum seekers the right to work if they’ve been waiting for more than three months.

The Government must also stop locking up asylum seekers – including victims of torture – in detention centres with no idea when they’ll be released. It’s inhumane, unnecessary and expensive.

The Liberal Democrats believe detention should be an absolute last resort, and we are supporting cross-party efforts to impose a 28-day time limit on detention.

Beyond these clear issues, though, is a pernicious culture at the Home Office that means asylum seekers are treated appallingly. It has a shockingly poor record on getting decisions right, with 44% of appeals upheld by a judge.

Officials treat even the most vulnerable people with callous suspicion. This is particularly bad for LGBT+ asylum seekers, who are often asked to prove their sexuality in humiliating ways. Some are asked explicit questions about sex lives, while others are forced to produce screenshots of their conversations on dating sites, or statements from former partners.

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Ed Davey MP writes…My leadership would be about liberalism, climate change and stopping Brexit

By Ed Davey | Thu 30th May 2019 - 3:31 pm

Climate change. Liberalism. Winning. That’s been my political story – and I want it to be the Liberal Democrats’ story.  And with the magnificent victories in this month’s local and European elections, the Liberal Democrats are getting back in the game. I want to thank Vince, a giant of liberalism, for his role in getting us here and his contribution to fighting Brexit.

Under my leadership, the Liberal Democrats would continue to lead the fight to Stop Brexit. I am writing to Speaker Bercow to ensure a No Deal Brexit cannot happen without a vote in Parliament. But I also want to make the positive case for Britain’s membership of the European Union. I’m an economist by training, and for me the economic case to stop Brexit is overwhelming. But for too long the British argument over Europe has only been made by reference to economics. Europe has also been a hugely successful vehicle for peace, and Britain must stay in the front seat.

I also want us to reach out to Leave communities and Leave voters –they are our neighbours, our friends, our work colleagues, our brothers and sisters. These divisions in our country have distressed me more than anything I’ve seen in my political career. I want to build a future politics where people – particularly outside of London – don’t feel frozen out or ignored and feel included in our great British family.

As Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, I worked for three years to get renewable power investment. We nearly quadrupled Britain’s green energy, making Britain a world leader in offshore wind power. By pushing hard for manufacturing investment, we created jobs and revived places like Hull, Grimsby and Lowestoft.  This is the sort of hope and investment in coastal towns and cities that can prove to Leave communities that Liberal Democrats care.

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Ed Davey writes: Decarbonise capitalism to solve the climate emergency

By Ed Davey | Tue 28th May 2019 - 11:55 am

An ambitious UK Climate Change plan can reduce 1% of global emissions – but the UK has the power to cut 15% of global emissions, by decarbonising capitalism.

The Committee on Climate Change has proposed a net zero carbon target by 2050 for the UK. This is the minimum we should do – within our own country.

Yet the UK plays a massive part in more than 15% of the world’s greenhouse gases – because the City of London finances the businesses responsible for those emissions. So we could make a more radical impact on climate change – if we chose to decarbonise capitalism here. And we could set a new gold standard for global climate action.

And frankly, it would be grossly hypocritical to ask the British people to change, if we then failed to force our banks and financial institutions to do likewise.

The good news is that across the City, many people get green finance. But it’s still not mainstream. We won’t be able to solve the climate emergency just by adding in a bit of green cash: we need a system change. A diet only works if you eat salad and give up the doughnuts.

Just look at the greenwash by the fossil fuel sector. There are just 100 fossil fuel firms who’ve been responsible for 70% of global emissions since 1988 – and they have allocated on average only 1.3% of their total capital expenditure on green energy. This is utterly reckless and totally out of step with a net zero goal.

To reverse this, Government has to say: London will become a capital of Green Finance, and you will no longer be able to fund the climate crisis here.

This will be hugely challenging. Today 20% of the value of the London Stock Exchange is invested in high carbon and fossil fuel firms. By implication 20% of any pension funds tracking the LSE are too. To protect the incomes of pensioners today and in the future, their savings need new profitable homes.

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Liberal Democrats need to reform

By Ed Davey | Tue 11th September 2018 - 8:30 am

A central tenet of Liberalism is trust in the people. That’s why reforming our party must be built on greater trust in our members and supporters. And why for me this new reform process must itself be open and belong to the members.

The most exciting change to our party in the last 3 years has been the increase in members.

In Kingston, people who’ve joined us since the 2015 General Election have been key to our revival: from getting the fantastic Sarah Olney elected in North Kingston to our best ever Kingston Borough Council results this May – with a dozen “newbies” now councillors.

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Ed Davey MP writes….My family, my party

By Ed Davey | Tue 27th June 2017 - 5:00 pm

Last weekend I went glamping. with Emily and our children, John and Ellie. This luxury form of camping was my birthday present to my super-patient wife, and our first proper time to reflect together after the General Election.

And to cut to the chase, I’ve come back to Westminster more determined than ever to campaign hard for the party Emily and I both love – but not to campaign to lead the party at this moment.

When Tim resigned, I assumed Jo would go for it, and I would have supported her. She gave understandable reasons why she didn’t – so here are my reasons, some similar to Jo’s.

Emily and I met through the party. I was chairing a Housing Policy Working Group and she was a member, as a social housing lawyer. What could be more romantic?

Our joy this weekend was seeing our two children play together. And when you understand that John (aged 9) is severely disabled, you will appreciate that seeing our 3 year old daughter make him laugh is quite special.

And if it helps explain my decision not to run just a little more, please remember that my father died when I was 4 and my mother when I was 15. Being there for my children over the next few crucial years and to see those special moments is my personal priority.

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Ed Davey writes…Nous sommes Paris

By Ed Davey | Sun 13th December 2015 - 2:05 pm

Wow! How did that happen? The United Nations has just agreed the first ever universal climate deal – and it’s better for the global environment than anyone had dared hope for.

For once, believe hyperbole: this is the most significant international agreement since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945.

Here’s just 5 things from Paris that make this so good:

In the run up to Paris, more than 180 countries made commitments to cut emissions significantly;

  1. They agreed a surprisingly strong 5 year review or “ratchet” mechanism for bolder future commitments to cut emissions further;
  2. They backed a new long term goal to make sure global warming stays “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, heading to greenhouse gas neutrality in the second half of this century – meaning the effective ending of fossil fuels;
  3. Increased support for poorer countries to help them – whether in the low carbon transition or in adapting to climate change impacts already with us;
  4. Huge progress on the “rules” for how we decarbonise the world, including key technical stuff on audit and accounting and crucially, strong transparency rules, so we know what countries are actually doing.
  5. And if you don’t believe me, listen to the majority of NGOs: from Greenpeace to Christian Aid, there’s been a huge welcome. And those businesses and financial institutions who take climate seriously are predicting a massive rise in investment in clean green technology.
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Ed Davey writes: On the eve of a climate breakthrough …

By Ed Davey | Sat 12th December 2015 - 10:00 am

 

Whatever the press report on the Paris UN Climate Change agreement, it’s already clear there are 3 things we should remind people about:

  • first, it’s great news the whole world has come together to make the first ever global climate change agreement, so elusive over the last 25 years;
  • second, the impressive commitments to cut greenhouse gases are huge steps forward – and should make the remaining vital steps easier and cheaper;
  • third, Liberal Democrats played a major role towards this agreement – in leading the UK’s policy for Paris, in shaping the European Union’s and by representing the UK at the previous 5 UN climate summits – the essential building blocks for this weekend’s success in Paris.
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Ed Davey MP writes… Green energy auction paves way for 27 new renewables projects and thousands of green jobs across the UK

By Ed Davey | Thu 26th February 2015 - 12:13 pm

A few wind turbinesThis morning I announced the results of the first auction for green energy generation. The results are impressive – more clean energy at lower costs.

Thanks to this first renewable electricity competition of its kind, I have offered contracts to 27 renewable energy projects across the UK.  Enough to power 1.4 million homes and save the equivalent carbon emissions of taking 2 million cars off the road.

The projects include offshore wind and onshore wind and solar, and will create thousands of green jobs.

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Ed Davey writes … Warmer, cheaper, greener homes for people in rented properties

By Ed Davey | Fri 6th February 2015 - 9:05 am

warmer homesToday marks a landmark achievement for Lib Dems in government. Up to 1 million tenants renting energy inefficient leaky homes will be able to benefit from new regulations and so enjoy warmer homes and cheaper energy bills.  Clearly this will particularly help the fuel poor: those living in the leakiest privately-rented homes already need to spend an average £1,000 a year more to keep warm compared to the average home.

These new regulations will deliver two important changes:

  • From April 2018 private landlords will not be able to rent out properties which do not meet minimum energy efficiency standards; and
  • From April 2016 residential private landlords can’t unreasonably turn down a tenant’s request for energy efficiency improvements. This will mean landlords have to accept the request if they can get help through widely available support like Green Deal finance,  the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO), or grants from the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund.
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Live from Lima….Ed Davey writes from the Climate Change Talks

By Ed Davey | Thu 11th December 2014 - 4:54 pm

I’m half way through my third day at the Lima UN climate change talks and the negotiations look set to go to the wire this weekend.

But that’s not because there’s some crisis in the global talks – it’s because these are the most technically complex and politically challenging global negotiations ever. To make global agreements on how we move our carbon world to a low carbon world is an extraordinary task.

And the good news is that – thanks to Liberal Democrats in government – we come to the talks with a good story to tell – one of leading through example.  Of walking the walk, and unlike some, not just talking the green talk.  You may have read that Michael Gove prevented the Tory Climate Change Minister from attending the talks and I will leave it to him to explain his actions.

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Ed Davey MP writes…An Autumn Statement for more green energy and more help to keep energy bills down.

By Ed Davey | Thu 4th December 2014 - 7:00 pm

Liberal Democrats in Government already have a record of green energy delivery to be proud of.  Renewable electricity generation and investment have both more than doubled since 2010 and our reforms will create 250,000 low carbon jobs by the end of the decade.  Britain is ranked No.1 in the world for offshore wind investment, onshore wind now produces around 5% of the UK’s electricity and solar generating capacity increased by 60% last year.

But is that where the story ends?  No, and our ambition outlined in the Autumn Statement proves it.  The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project is something I asked my Department to look into some time ago.  We’ve now announced the initial talks we’ve had with the Swansea team will be stepped up a gear and it’s possible formal negotiations could start as early as next month.

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Ed Davey MP writes….The politics of renewables

By Ed Davey | Thu 13th November 2014 - 1:25 pm

Yesterday I was in Manchester speaking at the RenewableUK Annual Conference, and then on to see a fascinating energy efficiency project led by students in Parrs Wood School in John Leech’s constituency.

My Manchester speech focused on the politics of renewables – both the good news and the bad.

The good news is that renewables investment is in great shape. Since 2010, an average £7 billion a year has been invested – more than double that under Labour’s last term in office.  We are now seen as No.1 in the world for attracting investment in offshore wind, wave and tidal.

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Ed Davey MP writes…Signed, sealed and delivered, an ambitious climate change deal for Europe

By Ed Davey | Fri 24th October 2014 - 7:22 pm

Wind turbine - Some rights reserved by thomas vlWe’ve done it!  For Liberal Democrats in government, this EU climate deal is our most significant green win so far.  While Liberal Democrats are passionate about tackling climate change, the likes of Owen Paterson and UKIP seem to delight in talking down the threat that it poses, but that should make us even more determined to tell people why this deal is so crucial.

What have we achieved?  An ambitious Europe-wide climate change deal that will see greenhouse gases cut by at least 40% by 2030.  Other countries wanted a lower target, but I argued that the science demanded higher. And I was determined that if in next year’s UN climate talks other countries like the US and China show similar ambition, Europe should be ready to increase its efforts still further – so the words “at least” in the deal are more important than normal.

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Ed Davey MP writes…Tackling climate change

By Ed Davey | Wed 24th September 2014 - 12:59 pm

Flooding in Cedar Rapids, IAI’m writing from the Climate Change Summit in New York, hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. While Liberal Democrats don’t need reminding just how much of a threat climate change is – from the increased risks of flooding, to the impact on the world’s poorest – I thought it timely to give you an update on the progress we’ve made and what comes next.

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Ed Davey writes… Delivering on climate change & delivering on fuel poverty

By Ed Davey | Fri 25th July 2014 - 5:40 pm

Ed Davey - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsI write this while on a visit to India. A few weeks ago I was in the US, and I’ve just left China. Why? These three countries are the world’s biggest emitters and the series of meetings I’m having all focus on paving the way for a global climate change deal next year. In the UK, and with our partners across the EU we are gaining momentum for an ambitious deal, which I hope will result in a domestic …

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Ed Davey MP writes…Investing in green energy

By Ed Davey | Thu 17th July 2014 - 9:15 pm

offshore wind farmToday I published the Government’s first ever ‘Energy Investment Report’.  It shows how Liberal Democrats in Government have delivered on jobs and investment in energy – particularly green energy – and shows the plan we now have for this to continue for decades to come.

Let me be clear – investment in the energy sector has not been a ‘nice to have’.  We inherited a legacy of energy underinvestment from Labour and we’ve spent the last four years turning this around.   The sheer scale of the investment has already …

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Edward Davey MP writes… A better deal for people on ‘pre-payment’ energy meters

By Ed Davey | Wed 30th April 2014 - 1:15 pm

Electric Meter on the Back of the HouseLiberal Democrats in Government are doing everything possible to help consumers with their energy bills.  Just last week I announced that by the end of the year energy suppliers will halve the time it takes to switch energy supplier from the current five to two and a half weeks.  This is just the first step to achieving my ambition of achieving 24 hour switching.

But there is more that can be done, and I have written to energy suppliers asking them to now focus on …

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Edward Davey MP writes… Massive boost for clean, green energy

By Ed Davey | Wed 23rd April 2014 - 2:30 pm

2008 - Evopod 1/10th Sea Trials @ PortaferryToday I have announced the award of 8 new contracts for renewable electricity projects which will provide around £12 billion of private sector investment and once built will contribute around 4% of Britain’s electricity capacity.

These projects will support 8500 jobs and our overall electricity reform plans will generate over 200,000 green jobs. These projects and the jobs created will be across Britain – from the Moray Firth to Liverpool Bay and from Teesside to Norfolk.

Five of the projects are for offshore …

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Ed Davey MP writes… An onshore wind cap makes no sense

By Ed Davey | Fri 18th April 2014 - 9:00 am

A few wind turbinesRarely a week goes by without an onshore wind story appearing in the media – normally negative, with some Conservative source trying to undermine this important source of renewable energy. The past few weeks have been no different.

First, let’s set the record straight. Liberal Democrats in Government will not accept a cap on onshore wind. Of course what other parties choose to put in their manifestos is a matter for them. But this Coalition Government is not changing tack on onshore wind or renewables and we will not …

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