Essex voters 'will have to accept new pylons if you want lower bills' Kier Starmer says

Sir Keir Starmer stands in front of two wind turbines
-Credit: (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)


The Prime Minister has stated that voters will need to accept new pylons if they desire lower energy bills, as burying cables underground is too costly. Sir Keir Starmer faced backlash last week after declaring pylons a necessary "trade-off" for clean energy during his speech at the Labour Party conference.

This statement was met with disapproval from campaigners against new pylons in East Anglia, who claimed he had thrown the region "under a bus". However, the Prime Minister refuted this, stating that the country had "shied away from these trade-offs for too long".

He told reporters: "If you want lower energy bills, we’re going to have to have pylons above the ground." He added: "Yes, there is the option to put them below the ground – it costs much more money, and if there’s one consistent theme into and out of the last election, it’s that most people feel they’re already paying too much tax, and I don’t think many would put their hand up to pay more tax in relation to that."

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Plans for new pylons between Norwich and Tilbury, in Essex, have sparked local opposition. New Suffolk MP and Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay expressed "huge local concern about the impact on agricultural land, on traffic, on local communities, on the landscape".

The proposed pylons would transport electricity from wind farms off the coast of East Anglia, aligning with the Government's commitment to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030.

National Grid has maintained that considering alternatives would result in postponing the region's access to cleaner energy. Echoing this sentiment, the Prime Minister acknowledged the need for public consultation on such projects, but emphasised: "I do want to be clear: these are serious trade-offs that we’re going to have to make and we’re going to have to take those decisions."