The Tories on cutting costs and raising finance
Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, said a future Tory government will require public sector departments to cut their emissions by 10% within 12 months of the election. If they fail to do so, they’ll be penalised financially and budgets cut. It’s clearly part of the competition as to who can swing the axe most deeply.
He calculates that this is good for the taxpayers since it will save over £300m a year. (Having admitted yesterday that he over-claimed for mortgage interest on his Cheshire farmhouse, the arithmetic may be questionable and the numbers ain’t necessarilly so.
Bandwagons aside, all parties see the sustainability agenda as a means to drive recovery and growth and Osborne said that the Tories' green revolution would be a growth revolution. The numbers on sustainability are questionable, but Osborne said that the global market for green goods and technologies is worth trillions of dollars a year, but with less than a 5% share of that market, Britain is failing to take advantage. In fact, we have a smaller share of the green market than France, Germany, Japan and the US.”
Osborne also acknowledged that 75% the UK’s green energy companies are facing severe difficulties in accessing loans, investment and alternative financing – that’ll be in common with about 75% of the rest of UK plc.
The Bottom Line:If Mr Cable has his way...
"If Mr Cable had his way, all the big banks would be broken up and bonuses would be virtually eliminated - a sure-fire way in my view of guaranteeing an end to the UK’s ability to compete as an international financial centre. Let’s not forget that this is a man who is on record as saying that everyone who works in a bank has an ‘aristocratic lifestyle’ clearly demonstrating his lack of understanding of the sector." A tough line on bankers’ bonuses could make a brain drain of financial talent a distinct possibility, warns Paul Marsden. Read more