Let’s get a move on with air-con grants 🆒 Despite Labour approving grants for air to air heating and cooling systems last year, 4 heatwaves later and they still aren’t available… Why? Because agencies haven’t approved an accreditation scheme 😐 It’s time to get it done👇
Ralph Palmer
@ralphpalmer.bsky.social
Transport & Air Quality lead at Labour Climate and Environment Forum | New Forest 📍 | Liverpool fan | Views are my own
Great to see yet another strong month for EV sales - up ~50% from July 2025 - with sales now over a 1/4 for the year-to-date, above what's needed to hit ZEV mandate targets. Despite what industry says, the ZEV mandate is working. The Government should stand firm. www.reuters.com/business/uk-...
UK July EV sales beat mandate path, New Automotive data shows
Battery electric vehicle registrations in Britain jumped 49% in July from a year earlier, taking more than a quarter of the new car market and running ahead of the zero-emission vehicle mandate pa...
reuters.com
Sheer fantasy to think that climate change is just going to give us 'hot weather like on holiday'. 300,000 people evacuated across France and Spain. Wildfires in the UK barely kept under control. Yes - we desperately need adaptation, but if we don't mitigate things will get drastically worse.
UK households free to install plug-in balcony #solar panels from end of August www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
Law change means renters and flat owners may be able to cut bills as energy costs soar amid Iran war
theguardian.com
Glad to see govt spokesperson say the "2035 ban was not up for negotiation", but nor should interim targets that get us to 2035 either. The ZEV mandate creates a clear timeline & certainty - opening it up won't help industry or workers, but instead risks leaving the UK exposed to global competition.
Carmakers lobbied UK to revoke ban on petrol and diesel cars after 2035
And specifically on the bus £2 fare, it comes up repeatedly in GM focus groups and was a rare example of Government actually doing something tangible and good and the rise to £3 was understandably unpopular
New £2 bus fare cap for England in 2027. Reminds me of Haigh’s words from a couple of years ago (when transport secretary): ‘buses are one of the most important engines of social justice available in transport policy.’ This cap will make bus travel more affordable & simpler for a lot of ppl.
Burnham caps most bus fares in England at £2 but pulls back from possible income tax cut
The new prime minister had suggested he was looking at raising the level at which people start paying income tax - the BBC understands that is no longer being considered.
bbc.co.uk
Burnham announces bus fares across England to be capped at £2
Burnham announces bus fares across England to be capped at £2
Measure backed by £454m of funding, with £400m coming from switching investment in international climate finance to loans Single bus fares across England will be capped at £2 from January, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, has announced. The nationwide cap is currently set at £3 until the end of March 2027 although some areas – including London and Greater Manchester, where Burnham set a £2 limit as mayor – have lower top rates for single tickets. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
🧵 LCEF is pleased to welcome new Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero @miattafahnbulleh.bsky.social into her role. Miatta has been a long standing supporter of LCEF and we look forward to working with her at an extremely exciting time for climate and energy.
"My parents came to Britain as Jewish refugees from the Nazis. To them, Britain was both a sanctuary and a beacon of hope in the global fight against fascism. I will carry my parents’ faith in that spirit of Britain to my role representing our country" - Ed Miliband on his appointment as Foreign Sec
On the day we congratulate Burnham as he enters No 10, I wanted to gift him the good news that climate and environmental ambition speaks exactly to the people he wants his government to deliver for. lcef.co.uk/blog/good-ne...
Good news for Burnham: A strong climate vision speaks to both the north and the south | Blog | Labour Climate and Environment Forum
lcef.co.uk
“hundreds of North Sea licenses granted by the Conservatives over 14 years have produced the equivalent of just 36 days of gas for the UK. The North Sea reserves have been in terminal decline for years. This is a feature of geology, not a piece of political spin” www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...
North Sea drilling is not the answer to our energy problems.
The urgency of the climate crisis is undeniable. The next 12 months are pivotal for advancing the global phase-out of fossil fuels and leaving a li...
politicshome.com
Over 85% Britons say that climate change is responsible - strikingly this extends even across more socially conservative segments more sceptical about things like net-zero. More broadly 66% of Brits are worried about climate change.
More than half of people are concerned about air pollution in their local area. This rises to: 🔴 60% of current Labour voters 🟢 64% of Labour-progressive switchers 🔵 58% of Labour-Reform switchers @lcefuk.bsky.social new report shows why the new Prime Minister should make clean air a priority...
Clean air is a silent (and locally led) success - borne from green spaces, active transport, action against polluting vehicles. Labour can and should own the win. An incredibly good bit of work and polling by our programme manager @ralphpalmer.bsky.social, supported by @goodgrowthfdn.bsky.social.
📣 NEW LCEF REPORT + POLLING LAUNCH📣 Our new report, Breathe Easy, shows how Labour can build a strong political offer on clean air, based on polling commissioned from @goodgrowthfdn.bsky.social.
Weird thing is most testing will show you that one of the most vote losing positions Labour could adopt is explicit anti-Net Zero signalling. This is because climate still disproportionately matters to Lab/Green voters while Lab/Reform voters don’t care either way...
It's kind of weird how watering down Net Zero has become a political litmus test in Labour. Net Zero was in the last TORY manifesto!
Improving air quality is a central piece of the puzzle for talking to people about their local communities, their neighbourhoods and their high streets. When government talks to the public about making the environment better, it has to (literally) meet people where they live.
Some great findings in our new report very relevant for an incoming Government. Labour are already doing some great things on air quality but are failing to tell a compelling narrative and are often leaving councillors who are doing the right thing exposed at the local level.
📣 NEW LCEF REPORT + POLLING LAUNCH📣 Our new report, Breathe Easy, shows how Labour can build a strong political offer on clean air, based on polling commissioned from @goodgrowthfdn.bsky.social.
🆕 Delighted to publish something I've been working on - @lcefuk.bsky.social new report, Breathe Easy, making the political case for Labour to take bold action on air pollution, based on polling we commissioned from @goodgrowthfdn.bsky.social.
📣 NEW LCEF REPORT + POLLING LAUNCH📣 Our new report, Breathe Easy, shows how Labour can build a strong political offer on clean air, based on polling commissioned from @goodgrowthfdn.bsky.social.
It is mad that we have, somehow, allowed net zero - a policy common to all major parties under 5 years ago and supported by a majority of the public - to become a synoym for mad radicalism. It is doubly mad that we've allowed this to happen during the hottest summer on record.
I’m sorry, but what is ‘radical’ about the policies pursued by Miliband?
London has shown what is possible when a major city refuses to accept dirty air as inevitable. The world's largest clean air zone of its kind, cleaner buses and bold borough-level action have together cut harmful pollutants far faster than the experts predicted.
Local Authorities In England Praised For Clean Air Progress In New Study
The report by the UK100 group of councils claims local work around tacking air pollution between 2019 and 2025 prevented an estimated 13,722 deaths.
forbes.com
Why is the ZEV Mandate so important to stopping climate change? 📺️ Hear from our Transport Programme Manager @ralphpalmer.bsky.social on why the ZEV Mandate is one of our best tools for climate action, allowing businesses to invest with certainty and consumers to buy cheaply.
I love this: people say the UK isn’t cohesive or kind or that culture is only something for certain people. I am of the belief we are the funniest nation on earth, and that is the shared culture and joy that I know and love, and that is wholly inclusive. Grateful to Sof for articulating as always.
So I wrote about it again lads. See what you think. It's just my view of the Britain I think exists. Would love to know yours, and what you think our v specific silly British things are – because there were simply too many good ones to list www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
So I wrote about it again lads. See what you think. It's just my view of the Britain I think exists. Would love to know yours, and what you think our v specific silly British things are – because there were simply too many good ones to list www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Count Binface represents the Silly Sausage Britain I know and love | Sofie Jenkinson
Mr Blobby, the Liz Truss lettuce, Boaty McBoatface … the Clacton hopeful is part of a rich tradition – and a reminder that it’s laughter that defines us, not hate, says co-director of Round Our Way, S...
theguardian.com
I would simply like to point out that what we are seeing rn, from Binface in particular, is Mr Blobby Patriotism in action (@renewaljournal.bsky.social). We are in Silly Sausage Britain and we just have to accept it: renewal.org.uk/blog/mr-blob...
I found this thread very interesting – but I think there is a risk that we become too ‘doomster’ about wind (vs solar.) So, a thread of my own! Spanish renewable energy is cheap partially because the country is very suitable for solar, yes, but they also have a lot of onshore wind…
UK bet big on wind and we lost not because it was a bad bet, but solar is just miles better than wind and we're in the wrong place for it. Its certain we'll have higher energy costs and a less industrial economy than Spain by 2050 for that reason. And we'll have to spend more on grid to achieve it.
BREAKING: Burnham signals shift on Labour's Gaza stance. Very interesting story by @pippacrerar.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Andy Burnham says Labour ‘didn’t get it right’ as he apologises for its stance on Gaza
Exclusive: PM-in-waiting says party must ‘do better’ in approach to Middle East and he will put more pressure on Israel
theguardian.com
Really pleased to say that LCEF is launching a new blog series over the summer on transport. If you have a pitch on anything to do with how the UK & this Labour Government can make a success of transport decarbonisation, we'd love to hear from you! 📩 Email your pitches to: pitch@lcef.co.uk
We're nearly finished wrapping up our #FoodSecurity series, but as we head into summer recess and yet another heatwave, we're delighted to announce two new blog series on Transport and Climate Resilience respectively. Please do get in touch at the email below! 📩 pitch@lcef.co.uk
EXC - The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns
Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection
theguardian.com
Why should the Burnham government prioritise targeted grid upgrades in its first 100 days? How would this save consumers money, revitalise our industries and lead to new and innovative growth? And what are constraint costs anyhow? 👇
Our Deputy Director @mcortonscott.bsky.social spoke to Arguably about our policy ideas for Andy Burnham’s first 100 days - including tackling grid constraints. www.arguably.uk/p/20-ideas-f...