Latest news with #AndrewBowie
The Herald Scotland
6 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Watchdog probes Springbank baron over nuclear firm meeting
The paper stated that Lord Duncan of Springbank helped Terrestrial Energy secure a meeting in 2023 with Andrew Bowie, then the UK nuclear minister. READ MORE: Lord Duncan, who has also served as a junior climate minister, has been an adviser to Terrestrial Energy since 2020. The company is developing a new type of nuclear reactor it claims can be built more quickly and cheaply than traditional power stations. Although Lord Duncan has not received a salary for the role, he has been granted share options—allowing him to buy company shares at a preferential rate if the business becomes profitable. Documents released under freedom of information legislation show that, in 2023, Lord Duncan forwarded a letter from Terrestrial Energy's chief executive, Simon Irish, to Mr Bowie. In the letter, Mr Irish requested a meeting with the minister to introduce himself and brief him on the firm's products. He noted that, alongside a partner, the company had 'applied for a grant from [the] UK's nuclear fuel fund programme'. In his accompanying email, Lord Duncan wrote: 'Sorry this letter has taken so long to get to you … The chap in question is in town week commencing 1 May, if you have any availability. I realise it's short notice but I thought it might be better than a Zoom. Good to see your youngster bobbing up on my timeline beaming away merrily. Please pass on my best wishes to [name redacted].' A Whitehall official later replied confirming that Mr Bowie 'would be pleased' to meet Mr Irish and asked for his contact details. The House of Lords Commissioners for Standards' website confirms that Lord Duncan is under investigation for a 'potential breach' of paragraph 9(d) of the 12th edition of the House of Lords Code of Conduct, which states that "Members must not seek to profit from membership of the House by accepting or agreeing to accept payment or other incentive or reward in return for providing parliamentary advice or services." Responding to the Guardian last month, Lord Duncan denied breaching any rules, describing the meeting as a 'continuation of the dialogue' between Terrestrial Energy and the UK Government. 'In forwarding on this letter to Andrew Bowie, I was introducing a representative from a company already known to the government and with whom the representatives of the government had met previously,' he said. Lord Duncan added that he had not received any additional share options or remuneration since 2020. 'Such options in private companies have no value when granted, and only have prospective value on an exit, which is entirely uncertain, and may be many years after the grant.'
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Watchdog investigates Tory peer over nuclear firm's meeting with minister
The House of Lords watchdog has launched an investigation into a Conservative peer who helped to secure a meeting with a government minister for a Canadian nuclear technology company he was advising. The watchdog will examine evidence that Ian Duncan potentially breached parliamentary rules when he facilitated an introduction between the minister and the company's chief executive while he was on the company's advisory board. He is the fourth peer to face a conduct inquiry after a project by the Guardian examining the commercial interests of members of the upper chamber. Two others, Lord Dannatt and Lord Evans of Watford are under investigation. Earlier this month, Iain McNicol, a Labour peer, apologised for breaking the House of Lords code of conduct after he had written to the Treasury to promote a cryptocurrency firm that was paying him. The Lords commissioners for standards has launched the inquiry into whether Lord Duncan of Springbank had breached the rules that forbid peers from seeking 'to profit from membership of the house by accepting or agreeing to accept payment or other incentive or reward in return for providing parliamentary advice or services'. Duncan has previously denied that he had broken the rules. The investigation comes after the Guardian revealed in April that he had helped the company, Terrestrial Energy, to secure the meeting in 2023 with Andrew Bowie, the nuclear minister at the time. The meeting enabled Terrestrial Energy's chief executive to lobby for easier access to UK government funding. Terrestrial Energy is developing a new kind of nuclear reactor that it believes can be built more quickly and cheaply than traditional nuclear power stations. As part of the drive to meet net zero targets, the British government has been providing grants to companies working to develop new technologies in this field. Duncan, a former junior climate minister, has been an adviser to the company since 2020. He has not received a salary for the position but was given share options instead. These options give him the right to buy shares in the company at a preferential rate if they become profitable. Documents released under freedom of information legislation show that, in 2023, Duncan forwarded a letter from Simon Irish, Terrestrial Energy's chief executive, to Bowie. In the letter, Irish asked for a meeting with Bowie to 'introduce himself and Terrestrial Energy' so he could brief the minister on the company's products. He also wrote that, with a partner, the company had 'applied for a grant from [the] UK's nuclear fuel fund programme'. In his email to Bowie, Duncan, signing himself off as 'Lord D of S', said: 'Sorry this letter has taken so long to get to you … The chap in question is in town week commencing 1 May, if you have any availability. I realise it's short notice but I thought it might be better than a zoom. Good to see your youngster bobbing up on my time line beaming away merrily. Please pass on my best wishes to [name blacked out].' A Whitehall official sent an email back to say Bowie 'would be pleased' to meet Irish, and requested his contact details. Duncan provided them. He also forwarded the civil servant's email to Irish, advising the chief executive to contact officials directly to set up the meeting. When previously contacted, Duncan said that he did not believe he had broken Lords rules and that the meeting was a 'continuation of the dialogue' between Terrestrial Energy and the government, as the company had held previous meetings with ministers and officials before his involvement. 'In forwarding on this letter to Andrew Bowie, I was introducing a representative from a company already known to the government and with whom the representatives of the government had met previously.' Terrestrial Energy, he added, had not given him any further share options since 2020 nor any other remuneration. 'Such options in private companies have no value when granted, and only have prospective value on an exit, which is entirely uncertain, and may be many years after the grant.' Duncan, who has been a peer since 2017 and is a deputy speaker in the upper chamber, did not attend the meeting that took place in June 2023.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Blow for struggling factories as Starmer ties Britain to EU carbon tax
Factories face higher taxes under Sir Keir Starmer's EU 'reset' deal amid warnings that heavy industry is already being crushed by sky-high energy costs. The Prime Minister has agreed to work with Brussels to link the UK and EU markets for so-called carbon credits, a form of taxation where industrial businesses are charged for any CO2 emissions over an allowed limit. The agreement commits the UK to imposing caps that are 'at least as ambitious' as those put in place by Brussels and paying towards the administrative costs of running the European scheme. On Monday, the Government argued that the concession had won British companies protection from a separate so-called carbon border tax that the EU is set to impose on goods imported from outside the bloc, meaning they would pay less overall. It was welcomed by industry body UK Steel, which said factories would otherwise have faced 'trade frictions' when exporting to continental Europe. But critics warned the agreement could ultimately lead to higher taxes for factories, given that the EU's carbon prices are higher than the UK's. This may be particularly painful for businesses that do not primarily export to Europe. Carbon credit prices, which are traded on the market, rose 6pc in Britain following Sir Keir's announcement, reflecting the expectation that the deal will bring them closer to the EU's level. Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, warned: 'This agreement with the EU means we will no longer have any sovereignty over our own carbon prices at all. 'If the Government wanted to reduce the burden on industrial businesses in future by lowering our carbon price to a level below the EU's, for example, that will no longer be allowed – our hands will be tied. 'And the EU is going to be setting those prices based on what is best for the 27 member states, not what's best for Britain. 'We are seriously concerned that this is only going to increase the cost of energy for UK industry, which is the complete opposite of what ministers should be trying to do right now.' However, a government spokesman said: 'This deal will save businesses millions and cut bills by avoiding businesses being hit by the EU's carbon tax due to come into force next year, which would have sent £800m directly to the EU's budget. 'Forty-four different business organisations, including the CBI, Make UK and UK Steel all backed our approach last month as crucial to preventing businesses relocating overseas and reducing costs for both UK and EU consumers.' Meanwhile, separate figures revealed sky-high energy costs have forced Britain's steel-makers, paper mills, chemical factories and other heavy manufacturers to slash production by a third in just three years. The output of energy-intensive industries fell by 33.6pc between the start of 2021 and the end of 2024, official figures showed. The manufacturing slump included huge drops in the production of metals and castings, glass, chemicals and paper products. Output from heavy industry is now languishing at its lowest point since records began in 1990, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) added. The slump was triggered by a surge in energy prices. Over the same period, the price of electricity soared 75pc and the price of gas more than doubled, prompted by the outbreak of the Ukraine war, as well as green energy levies. The ONS blamed the steep costs faced by UK firms on the country's high dependence on gas. The average price that industrial firms paid for gas leapt from 2.5 pence to 5.5 pence per kilowatt hour (KWh) between the first quarter of 2021 and the end of 2024, it said. Over the four-year period, the ONS said the average power price paid by industrial firms rose from 14.8 pence to 26 pence/KWh. It peaked at 28.4 pence/KWh in the final quarter of 2023, before coming down later. These higher gas prices also led to higher power prices, as gas is used to generate around one-third of the UK's annual power requirements. The UK was more exposed to recent surges in gas prices than France and Germany, where there is a greater reliance on nuclear and coal-fired power. Last year, it was revealed that British companies faced the highest industrial electricity prices of any developed country. The ONS noted that other European countries offered more relief to industrial businesses from network costs and carbon taxes. Since 2010, much of the 'policy costs' added to electricity and gas bills have been paid by businesses rather than domestic consumers, although in recent years energy-intensive businesses such as steel makers have been granted relief. Sam Richards, chief executive of campaign group Britain Remade and a former Downing Street energy adviser, said the figures were an urgent 'wake-up call'. He said: 'Sky-high energy costs have gutted Britain's industrial base, with output in sectors like steel and chemicals collapsing to record lows. 'If we're serious about protecting jobs and rebuilding our manufacturing strength, we need to cut industrial electricity costs and fast.' Mr Richards called on ministers to boost British energy production, adding: 'That means unleashing a wave of investment in renewables and new nuclear, including small modular reactors, which offer a game-changing opportunity to power energy-intensive industries in Britain's industrial heartlands with clean, affordable electricity.' Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, is next month expected to set out the Government's new industrial strategy, with ministers hinting that the package will include measures to lower the cost of energy. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Britain giving up on net zero is not an option
Andrew Bowie does not seem to understand the difference between evidence and opinion (Tory energy spokesman claims UN climate experts are 'biased', 14 May). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 'bias' is in favour of rigorously tested and reviewed scientific evidence built up over decades. That evidence shows that we must reach net zero by 2050 to keep warming to less than 2C, a target accepted as necessary to avoid dangerous impacts of warming. Nearly 80%percent of the public are concerned about climate change in the UK and more that six in 10 support the government's commitment to net zero by 2050. The UK's commitment to net zero offers huge opportunities for growth and will increase national security and resilience. Science has much to offer in support of achieving net zero, and the UK must find fair ways to deliver that change. Giving up is not an RowanVice-president, Royal Society Following Tony Blair, Andrew Bowie is the latest politician to complain about the cost of reaching net zero, claiming that it is 'not conducive to the overall economic wellbeing of this country'. This fails to recognise that a green transition will create jobs and lead to growth. However, estimating the cost of reaching net zero is looking at the issue the wrong way. The important question is: what is the cost of not reaching net zero by 2050? There is an increasing amount of data on climate-change events already taking place, and even moderate extrapolations are alarming. To take but one example, has Bowie factored in the likely costs from the flooding of low-lying areas of London?Dr Kerry LawsonCrowmarsh Gifford, Oxfordshire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Press and Journal
19-05-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
Future of Aberdeen's job-boosting Net Zero Technology Centre 'must be secured'
The UK Labour government is facing calls to secure the future of a key North Sea innovation hub based in Aberdeen. The Net Zero Technology Centre was created in 2017 to support the North Sea energy industry and accelerate the transition to net zero. It formed part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal and was backed with £180 million of UK and Scottish government funding – which ends in March 2027. North-east MPs Andrew Bowie and Stephen Flynn want the Treasury to commit beyond that date. In a letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves they said it has a 'key role in ensuring not only a just transition but a transition with hope and opportunity for the current workforce'. Mr Bowie told the P&J the NZTC has added years on to the viability of tens of thousands of jobs in the north-east. 'Labour are consistently saying Aberdeen and the north-east are vital to the future of energy. 'To pull support in 2027 for NZTC will be a dereliction of duty for government. A betrayal.' The centre has contributed £10 billion of GVA and £220m of match funding. This has commercialised 59 new technologies and accelerated 117 new start-ups. The Labour government has faced a renewed backlash in recent weeks over its windfall tax on oil and gas firms. Harbour Energy recently announced 250 Aberdeen job cuts, blaming the Energy Profits Levy, which the UK Government last year increased and extended to 2030. It has led to calls for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to urgently visit the city to hear about the 'damaging impact' of his government's policies. A response by climate minister Kerry McCarthy said the UK and Scottish governments are 'actively reviewing' the centre's latest business case. Her letter says the government is considering how best to support net zero research and innovation in 'a way that maximises impact and delivers value for public investment'. 'A decision on the government's potential future involvement with NZTC will be made in due course', she added. A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it 'hugely appreciates' the work the centre has undertaken since opening in 2017. She added: 'We continue to support this work as part of our ongoing £90m commitment to NZTC through the Aberdeen City Region Deal. 'We are reviewing the latest business case information that has recently been provided alongside the UK Government.' A UK Government spokeswoman said: 'Scotland is at the heart of our clean energy mission. 'Just this week, we announced we will establish an Energy Campus in Aberdeen, building local skills and developing government policy closer to the communities it affects. 'We are backing net zero research and innovation in Scotland and across the UK.'
