London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Confusion over Labour’s energy policy after Starmer rules out nationalising big six

Leader blindsides Miliband by ditching pledge to support common ownership, and defends push to change Labour rules
Labour’s energy policy has been become mired in confusion after Keir Starmer blindsided shadow business secretary Ed Miliband by ruling out nationalising the big six energy companies.

It is understood Miliband was frustrated by Starmer’s comments, as he had been keen to keep open the option of nationalising parts of the energy sector to aid the economy’s transition to net zero.

Appearing on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, hours before Labour delegates passed a radical motion calling for a “socialist green new deal”, Starmer was asked directly whether he would consider nationalising the main energy providers to tackle the energy crisis. He replied: “No.”

Instead, speaking shortly before Miliband was due to deliver his conference speech, he said Labour would advocate nationalisation only in certain circumstances.

“When it comes to common ownership, I’m pragmatic about it,” he said. “Let me spell it out. What that means is that where common ownership is value for money for the taxpayer and delivers a better service, then I’m in favour of common ownership.”

By contrast, Miliband suggested on Newsnight earlier in the week that the party was about to renew its commitment to common ownership of energy and other public resources.

“We haven’t changed that commitment,” Miliband said. “If we’re going to make this green transition, then public ownership is the right way to go.”

The shadow business secretary has not yet set out which elements of the system Labour would take into public ownership – but it is understood he was not ready to rule out nationalising energy providers, preferring to set out details closer to the next general election.

The “big six” controlled about 70% of the energy supply market in 2019.

A senior Labour source, asked whether Miliband or Starmer were setting out Labour’s stance, said the party’s policy was “what Keir says it is”.

The Labour leader’s comments came as delegates at the party’s conference in Brighton overwhelmingly backed a motion calling for the party to adopt a series of radical climate policies.

As well as nationalisation of the energy sector, these included the creation of a “national nature service,” “a government programme creating millions of well-paid, unionised green jobs with publicly owned entities,” and “mass investment in green technologies and renewables”.

Gaya Sriskanthan, Momentum co-chair, said: “This is a turning point. The grassroots have had enough of timid centrism and have overwhelmingly endorsed transformative socialist policy that meets the crises of the 21st century head on.”

Starmer’s comments on the big six appeared to contradict his own stance when he was seeking Labour members’ votes during last year’s leadership contest.

One of his 10 key pledges was that “public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water.”

Sriskanthan said: “Starmer has spent long enough running away from his 10 pledges. It’s time to support transformative policy. Labour members back bold solutions – the leadership needs to follow suit.”

In his conference speech on Sunday, against a backdrop of queues outside petrol stations and empty shelves in supermarkets, Miliband reminded Labour members of David Cameron’s warning: “Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice – stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband.”

“I’ll tell you one thing: I’d have done a damn sight better than this miserable shower,” he said.

Miliband said it was Labour’s responsibility “to be the party of green and red together. To be the party of climate and economic justice together.”

Chris Saltmarsh, co-chair and co-founder of party pressure group Labour for a Green New Deal, said: “It’s fantastic to hear Labour talking about building a vision around a green new deal, but it must back up words with policies.

“As new polling shows, a majority of the public are in favour of renationalising our energy companies. This is the perfect opportunity to build on that support and deliver a unifying, ambitious programme for climate justice.”

Starmer will make his own speech on Wednesday, the first in person since taking over the leadership last year, after kicking off the gathering with an internecine wrangle about how his successor will be chosen.

Starmer announced a new policy on Sunday of scrapping the charitable status of England’s private schools, and spending the money on giving children more soft skills to make them more work-ready.

Starmer said: “This is a political choice to take that money and switch it to our state schools so that children and young people in our state schools have the best chance they can have to come out of schools ready for life, ready for work.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×