The government is set to announce a plan to weaken the link between electricity and volatile gas prices, which it says will better protect consumers from energy shocks triggered by international conflicts.

Carla Denyer MP, the Green Party’s spokesperson for Energy and Net Zero and a former offshore wind engineer, gave her reaction:

“As someone who has been calling for the price of electricity to be decoupled from high price of gas since 2022, I am so relieved to hear that the Energy Secretary is finally looking to address this.

“But this announcement deserves two cheers, not a full-throated three.

“They have been too slow to act. It is nearly two years since the election – two years in which they could have prevented a crisis like this rather than just respond to it. Households are once again paying the price.

“And the voluntary nature of the proposal raises questions in a crisis-ridden energy market where sellers have the upper hand.

“I will be holding the government’s feet to the fire to make sure they get this right; that it is delivered at speed, and bill-payers are finally able to properly reap the full benefits of clean and affordable renewable energy.”

Responding to Reform UK’s latest attacks on asylum seekers, deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Rachel MiIlward said:

“Another superficial, ill-thought-out and cruel announcement by Reform UK, which will fail to tackle the roots of the asylum crisis whilst making sure more suffering is heaped on the most vulnerable. 

“We do not want to see people risking their lives crossing the channel in small boats. What we need is strong international cooperation to address the reasons that people are having to seek asylum in the first place: war, poverty and the climate crisis, and to provide safe & managed routes that would offer a real alternative to people smugglers.”

“We must remember our basic humanity. Many of those seeking asylum have endured horrendous trauma. They include mothers and children. We have a duty to offer compassion and sanctuary, not insecurity, fear and intimidation.

Millward also criticised the BBC for its recent reporting on asylum issues:

“We are disappointed that in recent days the BBC, with its own reports stretching over multiple days, failed to show the challenges those genuinely claiming asylum face. Of course applications for asylum must operate under a proper legal framework, but introducing ever more restrictive rules won’t make the system more efficient. What it would do is make life even harder for the most vulnerable.”