Budget Looks To Green Power, But IT Mostly Ignored

The Chancellor also pledged £270 million to modernise universities and said that capital gain tax for entrepreneurs has been doubled. The government is also to set up a £35 million University Enterprise Capital Fund to support university innovation and spin-out companies.

Darling also outlined a new Green Investment Bank, which would control £2 billion of equity. Half the cost will come from government asset sales, with the rest matched by private investment. The idea of the fund is that it will focus on green transport and energy, including offshore wind power.

“We have to renew our energy supplies as we move to a low carbon economy,” Darling said, highlighting the need for replacing the UK’s ageing nuclear power stations. He pointed out the UK’s strength in electric vehicle design and manufacture, and announced that £60 million would be made available for British ports to host off-shore wind turbines.

The Green Investment Bank has got the approval of the Conversative Party. “It will be essential that everyone that cares about a green future for Britain, about radical action to decarbonise our economy, joins this debate and ensures that more sustainable lifestyles for the people of Britain are absolutely at the heart of this General Election debate,” said Tory MP Greg Barker in a speech last week.

“The Conservative Party is committed to that green future and believes that a genuine, long-term partnership with the private sector will be essential. A Green Investment Bank (GIB) will be central to this partnership,” Barker said, insisting that “It’s got to be a key part of the new financial architecture of the City of London”, to build “the global hub for green capital worldwide, and make the financial services industry here the first port of call for any global company looking to raise finances to power transitional investment policies.”

Meanwhile Climate Change Capital (CCC), an environmental investment and advisory group, also gave the idea the thumbs up.

“The renewal of Britain’s ageing energy infrastructure in a carbon constrained world will require investment at a scale and speed not seen for a generation. Market reforms that reduce risk and improve incentives should enable the amount of capital needed to be deployed successfully,” said Ben Caldecott, CCC’s head of UK/EU energy and environment policy.

“After the Conservative Party’s announcements on Friday, it is encouraging to see a cross-party consensus emerge on the need for change. However, any reforms must be completed quickly and investors that have committed capital under existing market arrangements should be protected, otherwise investment could dry up at exactly the moment it is desperately needed to ramp up,” he said.

Tories accuse Darling of ‘playing politics’

Much of what Darling has promised is highly dependent on Labour winning the next general election. David Cameron meanwhile accused Alistair Darling of ‘playing politics’ with a pre-election Budget which he claimed lacked honesty about the state of the public finances. He accused Labour of stealing a number of Tory policies.

“Labour has doubled the national debt and will double it again,” he said. “Labour has made a complete mess of the economy and is leaving it to the next Conservative government to clear up the mess.” He warned that, as a result of Labour’s actions, public borrowing will rise to £734 billion over the next six years.

“Almost everything they told us about the economy has proved not be true,” said Cameron. “We asked for action on debt and all we got was delay. The government has unveiled ticking tax bombshells.”