Though there are green shoots, government plans fall short of making the UK an energy superpower

Editorial: Consumer-oriented and modest in outlook, the government’s Green Day, as it was styled, didn’t really feel all that green

31 March 2023 (Dave Brown)

According to the energy secretary, Grant Shapps, defiant fan of TikTok and a man with an unusual thirst for publicity, he is simply “gradually doing things. I’m not some eco-warrior in this”.

Indeed so. He is always keen to show the media around his home and show off his energy-saving gadgets and offer useful tips. His green energy strategy is likewise very much consumer-oriented, and relatively modest in its goals. For that reason, the government’s Green Day, as it was styled, didn’t really feel all that green.

Gone, it seems, are the bombastic ambitions of Cop26, only 18 months ago, and with them the boosterish rhetoric of Boris Johnson, whose green faith was his only redeeming feature.