Government shaken by rebellion on Energy Bill

A cross-party group came within eight votes of passing a new green standard for power plants last night. Poor Lib Dem turnout has been blamed for stopping the measure passing.

In a sizeable rebellion, 27 Labour MPs last night voted against the government, and in favour of introducing a new green standard for power stations that would outlaw the building of the most polluting power stations like Kingsnorth.

The amendment to introduce an emissions performance standards (EPS) for power plants was narrowly defeated by just eight votes. Thirteen Lib Dem MPs, including Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Chris Huhne did not bother to turn up. Had they done so, and voted for the measure they themselves have championed, the government would have been defeated and Parliament would have ended the era of dirty coal.

David Cameron who has been a prominent supporter of the EPS led many of his Conservative MPs through the chamber to support the new green standard – but thirty nine of his MPs did not vote either.

Among the Labour backbenchers who supported the new green measure were Alan Simpson, Jon Cruddas, and Colin Burgon, who was a prominent figure in the Leeds miner’s strike in the 1980s. A few Labour MPs including Dianne Abbott, Fabian Hamilton and Austin Mitchell told climate campaigners they’d vote for the amendment but then either voted against it or abstained. Reacting to the vote, the Executive Director of Greenpeace UK, John Sauven, told Left Foot Forward:

“Yesterday’s vote shows the depth of unease within the Labour party about a bill that hands billions of pounds to energy companies but fails to hold them to account. Ministers caved into lobbyists from big German utilities who claimed that this measure would scare off investment, when the evidence from places like California shows that the opposite is true. Investors want certainty. Without an emissions performance standard new power stations are subject not to a legally binding limit, but to a gentleman’s agreement that leaves an uncertain future for both investors and the UK’s climate targets.”

http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.leftfootforward.org/2010/02/energy-bill-government-shaken-by-rebellion/ uberVU – social comments

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This post was mentioned on Twitter by leftfootfwd: Government shaken by rebellion on Energy Bill – but 13 Lib Dems incl Clegg failed to turn up & tip the balance http://bit.ly/dn7i9i...
http://twitter.com/tomraftery/status/9633136018 Tom Raftery

RT @Greenpeace: UK Government shaken by rebellion on Energy Bill http://bit.ly/c1xXj7
http://oxfordkevin.carbonclimate.org Oxford Kevin

Holly mackerel. http://climateprogress.org/2010/02/25/sen-inhofe-inquisition-seeking-ways-to-criminalize-and-prosecute-17-leading-climate-scientists/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29
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RT @gpnz: UK Government shaken by rebellion on Energy Bill http://bit.ly/cXwkkK
http://twitter.com/getlabourout/status/9637457875 Get Labour Out

Cameron & rebel Labour MP's vote FOR greener power and AGAINST the government http://ow.ly/1b7Ib Will @JohnPrescott comment?
http://twitter.com/illystraight/status/9637840646 karen harvill

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Some good posts on @leftfootfwd today http://ow.ly/1b85M and http://ow.ly/1b85N
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http://www.1stgov.info/1397/archives/government-shaken-by-rebellion-on-energy-bill-left-foot-forward/ Government shaken by rebellion on Energy Bill | Left Foot Forward | 1st Gov

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http://twitter.com/briardpuppy/status/9642713410 Kim Brebach

British Labor MPs cross floor demanding greener energy http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/02/energy-bill-government-shaken-by-rebellion/
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Cameron & rebel Labour MP's vote FOR greener power and AGAINST the government http://ow.ly/1b7Ii Will @JohnPrescott comment?
http://twitter.com/daily_ref/status/9645589195 Steve Green

RT @GetLabourOut: Cameron & rebel Labour MP's vote FOR greener power and AGAINST the government http://ow.ly/1b7Ii Will @JohnPrescott comment?
http://cllrdavidcox.blogspot.com David

Are you sure Clegg and co weren’t twined?
Chris Johnston

Really interesting post, thank you. I’d love to know where you got the information that Fabian Hamilton said he’d vote for the amendment, then didn’t on the day. I’d very much like to feed that information back to fellow climate campaigners in Leeds, any help would be much appreciated.
http://twitter.com/schreien_allein/status/9675551054 papercut heart

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Joss Garman

@ Chris

Fabian Hamilton signed up by putting his name to amendment NC16 – the amendment that would introduce emissions performance standards. He didn’t vote.
http://twitter.com/lmwalter/status/12039518483 Luke Walter

@TheBrettLeppard As I said, it is the principle that matters. They've missed important votes before http://bit.ly/bB58Sq #debill
http://twitter.com/lmwalter/status/12039435679 Luke Walter

@xchewtoyx @katybairstow It's the principle that matters. Leading LDems have been absent from an important vote before http://bit.ly/bB58Sq
http://twitter.com/lmwalter/status/13058830926 Luke Walter

@McShambles I'm talking about the emissions performance standard on the Energy Bill http://bit.ly/bB58Sq Only needed 8 extra votes to win it
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/05/vote-2010-climate-change/ Vote 2010: Climate change | Left Foot Forward

[...] On cleaning up the power sector, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both favour new emissions performance standards for power stations to rule out coal plants that don’t have a significant proportion of CCS [...]
http://www.jossgarman.com/?p=665 Is Huhne about to approve new dirty coal stations? | Joss Garman

[...] (page 16). When Ed Miliband’s Energy Bill came to Parliament for a vote, as Left Foot Forward highlighted at the time, it was Conservative and Lib Dems who worked together to amend the bill to enable an [...]
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/09/the-milibrothers-take-the-green-test/ The Milibrothers take the green test | Left Foot Forward

[...] he was energy secretary, Ed Miliband opposed the introduction of emissions performance standards for power stations, but the four CCS demos were [...]
http://www.jossgarman.com/?p=674 The Milibrothers take the green test | Joss Garman

[...] he was energy secretary, Ed Miliband opposed the introduction of emissions performance standards for power stations, but the four CCS demos were [...]