The Guardian view on green homes: solar panels and heat pumps should be a bare minimum
But that is the situation Britain faces, as the government lays the ground for a housebuilding spree that it hopes will last for the rest of this parliament (as planning is devolved, the target of 1.5m new homes is for England only). Much of the blame for this discouraging state of affairs lies with the Tories, who delayed progress towards sustainability by scrapping environmental rules, leading to a disgraceful proliferation of new developments where the houses do not even have solar panels on the roofs.
Ministers have confirmed that solar panels are likely to feature in their future homes standard for England. But questions remain about how prescriptive the new rules will be. Construction firms must be obliged to install enough panels to meet a home's energy needs to ensure that they do so. Battery storage should also be included, as this reduces dependence on the grid. High insulation standards would help to reduce energy demand and keep bills down.
However, it is the government's policy on domestic heating that is arguably the area of greatest concern. Important though it is, ramping up renewable power can only ever be one side of the green energy story. Fossil fuels must also be phased out. But the recent abandonment of green pledges, including a proposed ban on wood-burning stoves in new homes, coupled with the cavalier approach to nature taken in the planning bill, has left campaigners worried that on heating, too, ministers will cave in to housebuilders' demands by allowing them to fit gas boilers.
This would be as economically shortsighted as it is environmentally destructive. Other European countries are already miles ahead of the UK on installations, and heat pump manufacture has the potential to be an important source of green jobs. Labour has already abandoned a policy of phasing out gas boilers by 2035, despite the Climate Change Committee – which advises the government – having strongly criticised the refusal to move decisively away from gas heating. Heat pumps in new houses should be seen as a bare minimum. Industry would adapt more readily, bringing prices down, if the government sent clearer messages.
The danger, as with the planning reforms that set the scene, is that builders call the shots. This highly concentrated industry was a crucial source of donations to the Tory party and remains very powerful, since ministers have no other means of delivering their pledges.
But while construction firms want to keep costs low and maximise profits, these ought not to be MPs' priorities. Retrofitting heat pumps and insulation costs far more than installing them in the first place. Rare habitats such as chalk streams cannot simply be moved or replaced. Elected politicians must insist on this longer-term perspective. Building new homes is important, but nature and the UK's climate goals must not be demolished in the process.
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Sky News
37 minutes ago
- Sky News
Prince Andrew has no public future - and lack of royal status 'annoys him', author claims
The author of a new book about Prince Andrew has called for "more accountability from the Royal Family and more transparency" after encountering what he claims was considerable secrecy while researching his book. Andrew Lownie has spent four years working on Entitled: The Rise And Fall Of The House Of York - a book unauthorised by Prince Andrew - and submitted hundreds of Freedom of Information requests to government departments. However, he has revealed to Sky News that all of his applications for information about Prince Andrew and his official work were knocked back. The royal household and the royal archive are already exempt from FOI requests. Image: Andrew Lownie Speaking ahead of the book's publication, which has already attracted considerable attention because of more lurid claims about the duke, Mr Lownie told Sky News: "Clearly there are details that people have picked up on and run with. And you know, that's inevitable in these sort of books." But he added: "If they're to earn our trust and support, they have to show that they are not hiding things - that they are behaving well." Mr Lownie said he was given a catalogue of reasons by the likes of the Foreign Office and the Department for Business and Trade as to why they couldn't help with information about Prince Andrew's public work as a trade envoy in the 2000s. Sky News was shown a selection of those response letters. "They blame everything from security reasons, to cost and man hours, to data protection, to my questions being too broad," the author said. But Mr Lownie believes it's in the interest of the Windsors to be more open if they want to guarantee long-term backing from the public, and he hopes his book may trigger more calls for greater transparency. Read more UK news: Met Police make 'most arrests in a decade' at protest Major incident as crews battle wildfire near Bournemouth Image: All of his applications for information were knocked back It comes as a new YouGov report found that Prince Andrew remains the most unpopular royal in the country, with 87% of people having a negative view of him. According to the survey, just 5% of people have a favourable view of the Duke of York. The poll also found the royals are less popular with a younger audience. Only 36% of 18 to 24-years-olds believe the monarchy is good for the country, compared with about 60% of Britons overall. The generational difference is underlined given 81% of over-65s think Britain should continue to have a monarchy, but this falls with each age group to just 41% of 18 to 24s. Stories about Prince Andrew continue to attract a huge amount of attention and regularly still make him a difficult distraction for the Royal Family. Mr Lownie says he got no sense of any appetite to reintroduce him into public life while doing his research. "I don't think he has any public future. I would say his private future is pretty limited too. I mean, he lives in Royal Lodge [on the Windsor Estate], he plays golf, watches TV, and presumably sees his grandchildren ... he's living the life of a retired man." Image: Lownie speaking to Sky's Rhiannon Mills But according to one member of staff, the removal of his royal and military titles has stung more than Prince Andrew has publicly shown. "What most annoys him is his lack of a royal status," Mr Lownie added. "That's what really sort of gave him his whole sense of identity. And that's, you know, it's not being able to put on his uniforms and strut around and being self-important." Buckingham Palace has not made any comments on the book as the Duke of York is no longer a working royal. Sky News approached the Duke of York's office but received no response.
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
JD Vance visits posh Cotswolds farm shop Daylesford Organic as his huge security convoy annoys locals after sending countryside into lockdown
Have YOU seen JD Vance in the Cotswolds? JD Vance has been spotted visiting a farm shop dubbed one of the poshest in the UK after he arrived in the Cotswolds for a family holiday. Locals have been left disgruntled after the US Vice President's massive motorcade, made up of 18 vehicles, sent the countryside into lockdown today. Residents have been faced with road closures and security checkpoints manned by police with sniffer dogs - as Vance heads to a country manor in the hamlet of Dean. Photos shared on social media now show his security convoy making a stop at the Daylesford Organic farm shop, near Chipping Norton. Several large black SUVs carrying people believed to be Secret Service agents were seen parked on the driveway. Other photos show Vance inside the shop as he was shown around by Tory 'super-donor' and billionaire digger boss Lord Antony Bamford. Lord Bamford's wife, Lady Carole, set up Daylesford Organic in 2002, with the shop previously hitting the headlines for charging £950 for a wicker-style blanket basket. JD Vance is believed to have stayed in the shop for around three hours and to have taken particular interest in the bread counter, where he was seen trying samples. JD Vance has been spotted visiting a farm shop dubbed one of the poshest in the UK after he arrived in the Cotswolds for a family holiday JD Vance's vehicles were spotted outside Daylesford Organic in the Cotswolds Vance was shown around by Tory 'super-donor' and billionaire digger boss Lord Antony Bamford One person posted on social media: 'Stopped off at a farm did JD Vance. Security everywhere.' Another added: 'JD Vance decided to go to Daylesford Farm [at] the same time as us.' Daylesford Organic, which is situated on 3,500 acres of farmland, is known for its upmarket goods. Items on sale when the Daily Mail visited in October last year included Swedish side tables priced at £3,500 each and a £6,950 burnt cedar wood 'kindled' bowl. Meanwhile, an influencer was also left baffled in March when she paid an eye-watering £37 for just four grocery items. Vance's visit to Daylesford Organic comes after his motorcade was seen passing through Chipping Norton this afternoon. All entrances to the hamlet of Dean - two roads and three public footpaths - were subsequently blocked off. Only residents of the hamlet were allowed in and out, dog walkers were diverted, and those entering the area were subject to searches. Today, one local councillor labelled the heavy security presence 'intimidating' and compared the sight of guards in suits and sunglasses patrolling quiet lanes to scenes from Men In Black. Vance was said to have shown particular interest in the bread counter where he tried samples The outside of the farm shop which is considered one of the poshest in the UK due to its high prices Vance's visit to Daylesford Organic comes after his motorcade was seen passing through Chipping Norton this afternoon Daylesford Organic, which is situated on 3,500 acres of farmland, is known for its upmarket goods 'We understand that people do need security but I think they haven't been discreet about it,' said councillor Andy Graham. 'I think that tends to generate more concern than is necessary. Roads have been closed up.' Mr Vance arrived in the Cotswolds today with his wife, Usha, and children - Ewan, eight, Vivek, five, and Mirabel, three - after the family drove up from London following a private tour of Hampton Court yesterday. Mr Vance rocked up at Henry VIII's former residence for a morning tour - forcing the site to delay its public opening to 12pm. He now appears to have finished his official business after making a brief trip on Friday to Chevening House, the official residence of British foreign secretary David Lammy. Mr Lammy, 53, and Mr Vance, 41, are understood to have forged an unlikely friendship and spent time with each other's families, alongside engaging in a short, bilateral meeting. The massive security operation surrounding Dean Manor has prompted its owner to apologise to neighbours for the disruption. Pippa Hornby, who bought the 18th-century Cotswolds home with her husband Johnny in 2017, told villagers that she was 'so sorry for the circus' set to take place across the coming days, The Telegraph reported. The manor house was built in 1702 for the MP Thomas Rowney and is close to Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat farm. Set across six acres of land, the sprawling property is home to two cellars, a tennis court, rose garden, basement gym and Georgian orangery. There has been intense activity around the manor house for days. JD Vance's 18-vehicle motorcade passing through Chipping Norton this afternoon Police have closed off all roads and footpaths into the hamlet of Dean, where the US Vice President is staying with his family at Dean Manor, an 18th-century country house The vice presidential convoy making its way through Chipping Norton Officers are now checking the identity of residents trying to pass through the security cordon, watched on by dozens of Secret Service agents The motorcade is accompanied by motorcycle outriders to clear traffic On the main gateway of the property, leading to a sweeping 'in and out' driveway, two suited security guards have been checking the security clearance of those coming and going in a stream of blacked out cars and Mercedes limousine vans. Councillor Andy Graham, who has lived in the area for 11 years, questioned the use of police resources. 'I just worry about the number of police cars because at the end of the day they should be doing other things in the Thames Valley area,' he said. 'I'm disappointed that the authorities didn't keep me in the loop. I was aware of the holiday but I wasn't told how long it was going to be. 'I don't need the details because they can't do that but giving us a bit more of a steer so that I could reassure my constituents a bit more would have been good. I'm just a bit miffed about it I suppose. 'I know there are some planned protests tomorrow from the locals. They have strong feelings. They are not happy. There is clearly concern over it. It's the talking point of the community. In the nearby village of Chadlington, one woman called the high security a 'waste of resources'. 'To be honest it's the cost of it, the cost of the police, it's obviously impacting Thames Valley and therefore everyone,' she said. 'We get permanent disruption from Diddly Squat Farm. It's a real impact. I have one friend who had to go to Dean and she said the security was madness. 'Hopefully it will blow over because she was feeding someone's cats, and you have to have your cars searched to go in. 'She just turned around, she said 'you know what I'm have to make other arrangements'.' Mr Vance has made his presence felt with a massive security cohort Pippa Hornby, who bought the 18th-century Cotswolds home (pictured) with her husband Johnny in 2017, has told villagers that she was 'so sorry for the circus' set to take place The manor house was built in 1702 for Thomas Rowney, an Oxford MP Another couple, US citizens living in the UK, attempted to visit the town of Dean because of JD Vance but were turned away. 'I heard about the visit and just typed into ChatGPT 'Where is JD Vance staying' and it gave me the name. So we said let's just do a drive by, so we came here because we were curious about the area he was staying in.' 'We were being nosey. But the security wouldn't let us past the blockade. We sort of looked and said can we drive down there and they said well you can if you are going to visit or somebody, because they have a lots of people. 'I said no actually we just wanted to go to one of the Cafes there and they said well no we can't let you through.' She added: 'I'm saddened in a way that the Cotswolds will be on the radar of Americans and particularly MAGA type Americans. A long-term Chadlington resident said the area had become 'pretentious' and 'chock-a-block' with outsiders. 'I have been here for 30 years, it's yet another come to the Cotswolds, it's all become a bit chock a block really,' she said. 'We are just all a bit fed up with it all. 'It's all become very pretentious. There's so much money around. It used to be a really nice working village. 'For local people it's a pain in the a***. Because people think it is somewhere to play and they go off and forget that it's actually a working village. 'The traffic is unbelievable. The road block is bad, just this morning coming down, my road the traffic was ridiculous. I was trying to reverse out and it was all blocked up. And it's so narrow here.' Mr Lammy, 53, and Mr Vance, 41, are understood to have forged an unlikely friendship and spent time with each other's families, alongside engaging in a short, bilateral meeting. Pictured: Mr Vance and Mr Lammy in Rome in May this year On the main gateway of the property, leading to a sweeping 'in and out' driveway, two suited security guards were checking the security clearance of those coming and going in a stream of blacked out cars and Mercedes limousine vans There has been intense activity around the manor house for days Another local said a large antennae placed behind the house, perhaps a telecoms tower, is 'humming constantly'. But one man seemed almost entirely unaware of the upcoming visit. When asked about Mr Vance, he remarked: 'Who? I'm unsure who that is.' As the Daily Mail reported last month, the tiny village of Charlbury - which is near Dean - is home to The Bull, named Britain's best pub in the National Pub of the Year at the National Pub and Bar Awards. Earlier this year, Charlbury was named as one of the best places to live in Oxfordshire, alongside the towns of Henley and Burford. Meanwhile, the wider Cotswolds have become the latest hot ticket with Americans seeking what they see as a traditional cosy English escape. Ellen DeGeneres, the US talk show host, is reportedly deliberately fleeing her home in the area ahead of Vance's arrival after leaving the US following Trump's election. Fashion journalist Plum Sykes told BBC Radio 4 last month of the cosy English haven: 'It's just so hot and so trendy and so fashionable. 'It's an incredibly beautiful area because it's being protected, almost like a national park that you can live in. 'Americans cannot get over the charm but since Covid it's been refashioned with all the pleasures of London, Paris and New York. Despite their differences in political opinions, Mr Lammy previously declared that he considers Mr Vance to be a 'friend' and someone who 'completely relates' to him. The pair are said to have bonded over their common backgrounds - both being raised without their fathers - and their religion: Mr Lammy is an Anglican; Mr Vance a baptised Catholic since 2019. Chevening (pictured), a 400-year-old Grade I listed mansion, has been the de-facto summer residence of the Foreign Secretary for decades, after being gifted to the UK in 1959 Mr Lammy previously declared that he considers Mr Vance to be a 'friend' and someone who 'completely relates' to him. The pair are said to have bonded over their common backgrounds - both being raised without their fathers - and their religion Ahead of Mr Vance's visit, which a source claimed would include a 'short bilateral meeting', the Foreign Office said ministerial engagements would be announced in 'the usual way'. In March, the Foreign Secretary and his wife Nicola Green visited the vice-president's official residence in Washington, the Naval Observatory, for a private meeting without officials. The Foreign Secretary told The Guardian earlier this month he and Mr Vance spent a 'wonderful hour and a half' together over drinks at the US Embassy in Italy during the inauguration of the new Pope, Leo XIV. It comes shortly after President Trump visited Scotland, spending time teeing off at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire in between holding diplomatic talks with the Prime Minister. Announcing plans for a protest, the Stop Trump Coalition alliance said: 'We are meeting Trump with protests in Aberdeen and Edinburgh this month, and then in London and Windsor in September. 'JD Vance is every bit as unwelcome in the UK as Donald Trump. We remember how Vance cut short his ski trip in Vermont because he was so enraged by the sight of a few protesters. 'We are sure that, even in the Cotswolds, he will find the resistance waiting.' Mr Vance has continued commenting on politics during his time in the UK, and said yesterday that the US was working to 'schedule' a meeting between Mr Trump and his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts. European leaders are frustrated at the decision to exclude President Zelensky from the upcoming US-Russia summit and fear it could lead to an agreement that is harmful to Ukrainian interests. 'One of the most important logjams is that Vladimir Putin said that he would never sit down with (Volodymyr) Zelensky, the head of Ukraine, and the president has now got that to change,' Vance said during an interview on Fox News program 'Sunday Morning Futures.' 'We're at a point now where we're trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict,' Vance said when asked about his expectations for the Alaska summit on August 15. In the USA, the Cotswolds has been dubbed 'the Hamptons of the UK' due to its popularity with the celebrity set Pictured: A small protest in Chevening ahead of Mr Vance's visit The vice president, in an interview conducted ahead of last week's announcement that the US and Russian presidents would meet this Friday, said the US was going to 'try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and Russians can live with.' Vance added: 'It's not going to make anybody super happy, both the Russians and the Ukrainians probably at the end of the day are going to be unhappy with it.' US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker suggested on CNN that Zelensky could attend the summit. He was asked whether Zelensky might join Trump and Putin on Friday. 'Yes, I certainly think it's possible,' he said. 'Certainly, there can't be a deal that everybody that's involved in it doesn't agree to. And, I mean, obviously, it's a high priority to get this war to end.' In a flurry of diplomacy, Zelensky held calls with 13 counterparts over three days including Kyiv's main backers Germany, Britain and France. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday he hoped and assumed that Zelensky would attend the summit. Whitaker said the decision would ultimately be Trump's to make. 'If he thinks that that is the best scenario to invite Zelensky, then he will do that,' he said, adding that 'no decision has been made to this point.'
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Frustrated Crystal Palace count cost after Cas upholds Europa League ban
The news Steve Parish was dreading arrived less than 24 hours after he basked in the glory of watching Crystal Palace win their second trophy in three months. Parish had been confident the club's appeal against their demotion from the Europa League would succeed as he discussed their prospects in the bowels of Wembley stadium after the Community Shield victory against Liverpool on Sunday. 'I really am, even more after Friday,' the club chair said. 'I don't understand that we cannot be in the competition. I really can't. But it's up to the judges to decide. We trust them and that they listened to everything we said so let's see.' Confirmation from the court of arbitration for sport that it had upheld the decision made by Uefa's club financial control body to punish Palace for breaching its multi-club ownership rules has brought Parish and the team's supporters back to earth. The Cas statement made clear the role of John Textor, the American businessman who last month sold his 43% stake in Palace to the New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, was decisive. Textor has admitted that seconds after Palace's victory against Manchester City in May's FA Cup final that he feared for the worst regarding participation in the Europa League, given that he owns Lyon, who also qualified. The Cas panel – consisting of a Dutch former striker, a Swiss former fencer who competed in the 1984 Olympics and an Italian professor – backed Uefa's findings that Textor 'was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of Uefa's assessment date'. It also dismissed Palace's argument that they had received unfair treatment compared to Nottingham Forest and Lyon, and said missing the 1 March deadline for Textor to place his shares into a blind trust had been crucial. Textor has been the target of most Palace fans' frustration, although several have also taken aim at the Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis. Forest, who are poised to take Palace's Europa League place, wrote to Uefa a few weeks after the FA Cup final expressing concern that Palace may have contravened multi-club ownership regulations. Parish suggested last month in an interview with Gary Lineker that their Premier League rivals had played a role in the decision to ban them. 'We were told that and I think it's been made public,' he said. 'These things seem to be played out in public. There doesn't seem to be a lot of confidentiality that comes out of certain organisations. But we're led to believe that that's the issue – if there wasn't somebody that wanted to get in as a consequence, then there wouldn't be a problem. 'People have got to look at themselves. Some people will say it's fine, some people will say it's not. I don't really have control of that. I only have control of the arguments that we put forward to Uefa.' Forest declined to comment on Parish's remarks at the time. Palace's case is believed to have included evidence that only members of the European Club Association were informed Uefa's 1 March deadline for complying with multi-club rules could be extended until 31 May – a fact that enabled Marinakis to place Forest into a blind trust when it seemed they might qualify for the Champions League along with his Greek club, Olympiakos. Palace are also understood to have highlighted the burgeoning friendship between Marinakis and Textor. The American denies that had any bearing on his conduct and described as untrue reports he is planning to incorporate his Brazilian club Botafogo into the Greek shipping magnate's network of clubs. Forest sent a legal delegation to the Cas hearing to argue their case and they have been silent since Palace were demoted by Uefa last month. Marinakis has resumed control of shares in the two-time European champions after they finished seventh in the Premier League. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Their supporters can look forward to the Europa League's league stage while Palace prepare for a Conference League playoff against the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Norway's Fredrikstad and Midtjylland of Denmark. Midtjylland lead 3-1 going into their home leg on Thursday. It is estimated demotion will cost Palace up to £20m in lost revenue, given the Conference League's league stage has two fewer games than the Europa League's, although Oliver Glasner will fancy his chances of winning a competition that has had two English winners in its first four editions. The chance for Palace to play in Europe for the first time since a short-lived Intertoto Cup experience in 1998, when they qualified after being the only English team to apply for entry, will be consolation for a club that also missed out in 1991 when they finished third in the old First Division. Only the top two went into Europe via league position.
