, and maintain sufficient gas storage. As John Pettigrew, chief executive of National Grid, has said: 'We will need to build about seven times as much infrastructure in the next seven or eight years than we built in the last 32.' Local support should be incentivised through lower bills. 2. Reduce energy demand. Small changes in energy use make a big difference to people's bills, and to our ability to avoid blackouts through the winter. We need a national campaign, fronted by experts. We need to accelerate the rollout of energy efficiency measures and new technology such as heat pumps through individual incentives targeted at homeowners and collective incentives at the neighbourhood level. 3. Devolve more. We are an over-centralised country. The Government should seek quick progress in the decentralisation of powers to combined mayoral authorities, neighbourhood forums and councils. Mayors should be awarded a single spending settlement and greater powers over local transport, skills and research and development. Power and local accountability should be aligned. 4. Allow the Oxford-Cambridge Arc to grow. Lack of space around our top universiti){kind=link}
We have come together to propose an agenda that is realistic, pragmatic and attainable, as well as ambitious
There is a widespread belief that the Conservative Party cannot agree on necessary economic reforms, and that the fiscal context means it is impossible to get anything substantive done. We disagree. We represent a broad spectrum of centre-Right opinion, and include among us co-authors of both the 2017 and 2019 Conservative manifestos. Some of us believe the market should be freed, and some that it should be constrained. Some of us distrust government intervention, and some believe it urgently necessary. But we have come together to propose an agenda that is realistic, pragmatic and attainable – as well as ambitious and significant.
1. Build more domestic energy supply. We need as much domestic energy as we can get. We should allow solar on low-grade farmland, onshore wind (which every poll shows is popular nationally and locally), and maintain sufficient gas storage. As John Pettigrew, chief executive of National Grid, has said: “We will need to build about seven times as much infrastructure in the next seven or eight years than we built in the last 32.” Local support should be incentivised through lower bills.
2. Reduce energy demand. Small changes in energy use make a big difference to people’s bills, and to our ability to avoid blackouts through the winter. We need a national campaign, fronted by experts. We need to accelerate the rollout of energy efficiency measures and new technology such as heat pumps through individual incentives targeted at homeowners and collective incentives at the neighbourhood level.
3. Devolve more. We are an over-centralised country. The Government should seek quick progress in the decentralisation of powers to combined mayoral authorities, neighbourhood forums and councils. Mayors should be awarded a single spending settlement and greater powers over local transport, skills and research and development. Power and local accountability should be aligned.