Brown 'will help families go green'

12 April 2012

Gordon Brown has promised to help families cut energy waste in the home as he clashed with David Cameron over climate change.

The Chancellor outlined additional support with home insulation and an end to wasteful devices such as old-fashioned lightbulbs and standby functions on electrical goods.

His speech followed Tory plans for a range of environmental taxes to curb aviation emissions and Mr Cameron's appeal for "greener living".

In a central London speech to the Green Alliance, the Chancellor said the Government aimed to insulate the eight million homes yet to be done. Those on low incomes would not have to pay, he said.

Mr Brown said the UK would be the first country in Europe to phase out high-energy lightbulbs from "almost all" domestic use by 2011. He would also work with retailers to get rid of standby facilities on electrical goods.

The Chancellor also promised incentives to increase eightfold the number of homes producing their own energy through solar water heating, wind turbines and ground source heat pumps.

"We will help every householder see how by installing energy-saving measures they can both save money and improve the value of their home," he said. The Chancellor also called for more international co-operation on global warming as the world entered a "new age".

"This era quite simply requires a new approach both internationally and at home in Britain," he said.

The Tories immediately rounded on Mr Brown for "recycling" green initiatives, pointing out that he was talking about home insulation as far back as 1995. "Gordon Brown's speech proves that the only thing about him that's green is his recycling of policies," shadow chancellor George Osborne said.

Mr Brown said he had not anticipated the scale of the challenge Sir Nicholas Stern would present when he commissioned his report. And in a dig at Mr Cameron's attitude towards the European Union, Mr Brown said that only a government committed to the UK's role in Europe could show the necessary leadership. "Euroscepticism and continent-wide environmental action are at odds with each other," he said.

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