Get set for a green election!!

Gordon Brown fires the starting pistol on what promises to be the closest election in decades, green business leaders ask whether the low carbon economy could prove a vote winner?

We remain divided on the scale of the impact that environmental and low carbon issues are likely to have on the election campaign, which was formally kicked off yesterday when Gordon Brown confirmed the election would take place on May 6. And this will be a very close race as many can't see a clear leader!!

Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband said that the environment and climate change could emerge as a "top three" issue during the campaign as each party seeks to tout its green credentials.

What I'd like to see is the whole thing being fought on the architecture of a Green New Deal, Only Vince Cable seems the type of spokesman we would all listen to on topics of economy and green together (some say he would be a good PM if only he joined another party).

Lord (Mandy) Mandelson talks about a low carbon revolution, he only gives it lip service as it needs to on a much bigger scale than anyone on Silicon Valley would ever recognise.

He added that there was a strong case for the parties to make low carbon policies a central part of their manifestos, particularly given the scale of the economic opportunity clean technologies represent.

"I would not even couch it in terms of climate change and would solely focus on the opportunity," he said. " But I would be very surprised if I am not disappointed by the campaign."

Lord Mandelson

"We're pleased to see the election has finally kicked off but disappointed to see that environment and energy policies seem to be taking a back-seat for all parties," she said. "The environmental business sector should be seen as one of the key drivers of jobs and growth to lead us out of the recession, not as an afterthought or add-on. Environmental matters are central to many voters concerns – it's a shame that political parties seem to have forgotten that."

Juliet Davenport, founder and chief executive of Good Energy

However, others are convinced that environmental issues could yet emerge as a somewhat surprising electoral issue, particularly at a local level.

The Green Party announced today that it would for the first time put forward a full slate of candidates for London seats and is riding high in the polls in Brighton and Cambridge with a genuine chance of securing its first parliamentary seat. I even thought about joining the Greens myself and then heard that they were all originally Marxists!!

Meanwhile, insiders have suggested that Ed Miliband's role as Labour's manifesto co-ordinator could result in many of the low carbon policies he has pioneered at the Department of Energy and Climate Change being adopted as part of the manifesto. OK we'll have to see if this taken seriously and not left out after all the fudging of figures in the name of research, the research data was about as straight as an expense claim in the House of Lords!!

In addition, Miliband has repeatedly attempted to put down the Conservative support for wind farms and renewable energy targets as an electoral issue, and the contentious topic of wind farms, as well as the credibility of the Conservatives' commitment to environmental issues, could surprise all and play a key role in the campaign.

My thoughts are some prospective MPs do not regard climate change as a significant issue.

Did we simply help overseas manufacturing profit with the scrappage allowance?

Government scrappage scheme ends

Today sees the end of British taxpayers supporting car salesmen and car makers...
What will happen to the motortrade now the crutch has been pulled away?

Could we see the infamous banks rushing in and closing down all those involved in the supply chain within the automotive sector and could this be an example of the false bottom in the current credit crunch?

Good cars and good salesmanship was replaced with buying business or as the Government say "this scheme was designed to deliver a boost to the industry at a time when it needed it most, offering a £2,000 grant to scrap an old car in exchange for a new one. It has helped to create and maintain jobs in the industry and supply chain, while helping up to 400,000 customers to
buy a new car through scrappage."

For those that travel to visit developing nations capital cities you might wonder why our fairly clean burning and roadworthy cars got scrapped as we send our old spectacles or mobile phones to third world countries the question comes …. Should we have sent our roadworthy cars to replace the pollution creating wrecks driven around in the developing world?

We could have cleaned our air and improved that of capital cities around the world

1. Latest figures show this giveaway contributed to approximately one fifth (20%) of all new car registrations since the scheme started

2. Half (54%) of scrappage buyers surveyed had never bought a new car before

3. More than half (56%) of those surveyed said they would not have bought any vehicle at this time if the scrappage scheme had not been introduced

4. Cars bought through scrappage had average CO2 emissions of 133g/km – 27% lower than the average CO2 of scrapped cars

5. The average age of cars scrapped under the scheme is just over 13 years – 90% of all cars scrapped in the scheme were between 10 and 16 years old (SMMT)

6. Government data estimates that there may have been as many as 4,000 jobs supported by the scheme at manufacturers and suppliers across UK

7. Of those surveyed 60% of car owners who bought a new vehicle under the scheme were over 60 years old

Did we simply help overseas manufacturing profit from our customers and could we have spent this money making a new sector in wind, solar or other renewables.

I know thousands of smaller companies would have been kept in business if this money was used not as a gift but as a profit making loan that could be recycled back into business once repaid…

As the retail motortrade now sees the end of the boom (boom & bust) so sinks into a slump after we will see

Should we have worked on a theory

Give a man a fish and you feed him

for a day.

Teach a man to fish and you feed

him for a lifetime

Could Postman Pat make a great banking alternative?

Mandy (Business Secretary Lord Mandelson) today announced a major expansion of the financial services offered by the Post Office.

A great way to make the high street bank worki is to create a competitor into the heart of communities and saving the famous Post Office network of 11,500 branches.

With over 11,500 branches nationwide, the Post Office is the largest retail and financial services chain in the UK. Its network is larger than all of the banks in the UK combined!

“Since the global banking crisis we have set about reinventing the financial services industry piece-by-piece, building a system that is fairer, trusted and more responsible.

“Today is the next step in that process. The Post Office is a well-loved community institution and this move will bring more banking services back to the heart of those communities.”

Lord Mandelson Business Secretary

”The Post Office can provide a range of good value, simple financial products for everyone. These are the clear messages that people have given us and we are acting on them – a major step towards making the Post Office a sustainable neighbourhood banking service.”

The measures announced by the Government mark a step change in banking at the Post Office and demonstrate the Government’s ongoing commitment to the Post Office network.

Pat McFadden Business Minister

It looks though the big banks will in real effect be franchising banking services through the post office network

• Weekly budgeting account - An account which would help people on low incomes manage their household budgets, save money by taking advantage of the discounts for using direct debit to pay their utility bills and which would be available through the Post Office. The Government is already working with the Post Office and utility companies to make this account a reality as quickly as possible.
• Children’s Savings Account - the Post Office will launch a Post Office Children’s Savings Account in the next twelve months, encouraging children to save through visits to their local Post Office.
• Post Office Current Account - the Post Office will launch its own current account that will be accessible from any Post Office in the country.
• Access to accounts from other banks - detailed negotiations are taking place with RBS and Santander to give access to their current accounts - this would mean that around 86% of current accounts would be accessible at Post Offices.
• Business services - a new agreement between the Post Office and Santander will allow all its business account holders to access their accounts at the Post Office. The Post Office will also explore the development of a Post Office business bank account, which would be available throughout the network. Additionally, following responses made to this consultation, the Post Office and the Regional Development Agencies will explore how they can best work together to serve small and medium enterprises in each region.
• Mortgages - the Post Office will offer a new mortgage product with a 90% loan-to-value ratio aimed at first-time buyers. The Post Office will also increase its lending substantially, aiming to double the value of its mortgage book in the financial year 2010/11.

· Increasing affordable credit - plans to support a national distribution network with credit unions, reflecting the natural partnership with the Post Office, through a proposed levy on retail banks. This will ensure that credit union savings, loans and current accounts can be accessed anywhere in the country.

· Saving Gateway – the Post Office will launch a Saving Gateway account this year. This is a new account for people of working age who are on lower incomes which aims to kick-start the savings habit, with Government adding 50p for every £1 saved.

“Paying bills by direct debit often means a discount on bills of nearly £100 a year. This new account will mean some of the consumers who have to pay higher fuel bills can benefit from that discount and manage their energy bills better. We will continue to work with companies and consumers to ensure energy bills are as low and as fair as possible for everyone.”

Ed Miliband

At the Budget, the Government also said (as if they would or could enforce it) that all retail banks will be placed under an obligation to provide a universal service, with a legal requirement to offer a basic bank account to (we can all get bank accounts anyway) everyone who needs one, and has a valid address. I say the Government is simply showing off and solving needs that don't exist.... this is like saying we will ensure that the electorate will all get access to drinking water when we already have it!

Other measures already announced include new rules requiring responsible (every time we get a downturn this old chestnut pops up) lending, affordability checks and cooling off periods for consumers; and a clampdown on credit card lending practices, expected to save consumers £300million a year.

Is all this very exciting?

In my opinion it could be if the Post Office became a bank, offering free banking to small businesses and special rates for savers.

How handy would this be? Over 99 per cent of the UK population lives within three miles of a Post Office branch and over 20 million customers visit every week.

The consultation response is available from: www.bis.gov.uk/postofficebanking