Ramping up energy efficiency is a no-brainer when it comes to cutting energy bills, ensuring security of supply and reducing climate-heating emissions. In Jeremy Hunt, the Conservatives appear to have found a brain. In the autumn statement, he pledged to double annual energy efficiency investment with new funding of £6bn.
That is the good news. The bad news is that doubling does not happen until 2025, when the energy bills crisis may be over and the climate crisis will be even worse. Hunt is the fourth chancellor of 2022 and the chaos in the Tory party has meant unnecessary delays in making people’s homes warmer and cheaper to heat.