Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has expressed concerns over the difficulty of delivering on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's five key pledges for 2023. Despite these challenges, he maintains that the government remains committed to fulfilling these promises.
Shapps' comments come amidst record-high NHS waiting lists and meager economic growth. Nevertheless, both Shapps and Prime Minister Sunak assert that a recession has likely been avoided—a feat even experts did not anticipate.
In January, Rishi Sunak urged the public to judge his leadership based on the fulfillment of his five detailed pledges which include halving inflation by the end of 2023, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists, and stopping small-boat crossings to the UK. However, no specific timeframe was provided for any pledge aside from tackling inflation.
The Energy Secretary emphasized that although it may be difficult to deliver on all five goals within this parliamentary term, "the Conservative government is still absolutely committed" to achieving them. He implored people to remain patient until they can accurately assess their success or failure towards meeting these targets.
Despite some senior Conservatives criticizing Prime Minister Sunak's ability to lead effectively, Mr. Shapps described an atmosphere of "steely optimism" within the party ranks. Further bolstering confidence among Tories are more councillors currently holding office compared with Labour during similar points in previous electoral cycles.
On another note related specifically to energy policy in England: only two onshore wind turbines were started in 2022 while just one new turbine commenced operations within last six months—marking an underwhelming development pace relative to offshore capacity installations which outpaced its counterpart tenfold last year alone.
Addressing this issue directly as part of his role as Energy Secretary; Grant Shapps argued that wind farms should prioritize powering other such facilities instead of relying on individual turbines. Renewable UK data reveals that a mere two "small turbines" became operational onshore in England recently, with an additional turbine under construction in Bristol as of February 2023.
In light of this lackluster progress, the government is expected to relax its moratorium on new wind turbine installations—hopefully resulting in more projects and ultimately helping fulfill Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's key pledge to grow the economy while simultaneously addressing energy concerns.