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Responding to Ed Miliband’s speech, Sam Richards founder and campaign director for pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, said:

“Yesterday Ed Miliband backed our Powerbook report which sets out a credible path for Britain to be energy secure by 2030, calling it “a manifesto of hope.” Today he outlined Labour’s plan for a multi-billion investment by government and businesses to drive jobs in green industries.

“But we will only be able to wean ourselves off expensive foreign gas and turbocharge investment in clean domestic energy production if politicians grasp the nettle and commit to deliver the necessary planning reform. Without doing so, any plan, no matter how ambitious, will fail to deliver.

“Under Britain Remade’s plan to achieve energy security in less than seven years we’ll need to lift the ban on onshore wind and dramatically cut the time it takes to build new offshore wind and solar. We’ll also need to see Small Modular Reactors rolled out at pace with a fleet in the pipeline, alongside new targets for long-duration energy storage and major upgrades to grid infrastructure. All of this will only happen if we overhaul our outdated and sluggish planning system, a system that is holding back Britain’s true potential to be a clean energy superpower.”