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Miliband hits out at government ‘broken promises’

Labour leader Ed Miliband has heavily criticised the Conservative party for ‘messing up’ the renewables industry and reneging on promises made to pursue green policies whilst in opposition.

Miliband, who was energy secretary prior to his party’s general election defeat in 2010, accused the Tories of hindering growth in the renewables sector by decreasing the Feed-in Tariff and ridiculed its 2010 election strapline ‘Vote blue, go green’.

He told the BBC earlier this week: “The problem with this government is they think you can either have the environment or you can have an economy. Actually, you need green jobs for the future. Look at the thousands of jobs we were going to create if we’d maintained the Feed-in Tariff.

“The great irony of this is that the Conservatives spent their time in opposition saying the Feed-in Tariff wasn’t generous enough. Then they come along and rip it to pieces.

“The reality is we were making a difference. We were actually starting to get towards Germanyand other countries. It’s win win – you allow people to put solar panels on their roofs, cut their bills and create jobs.”

He added: “They have totally messed up the renewables industry and the Feed-in Tariff industry and it is another sign that while they promised one thing in opposition, they have broken their promises.”