Lucy Rigby

By Lucy Rigby lucyrigby

Britain could learn a few things from Germany in terms of environmental policy – not least on solar energy, in which the Germans lead the world.

One thing the Germans do particularly well is to involve the public and local communities in financing and backing new green energy projects. This is without doubt something which should be copied here.

This weekend, Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, announced that the public will be invited to invest in new, interest-bearing premium bonds which will specifically fund billions of pounds of investment in solar, wind and other forms of clean energy.

The oversight of these new ‘green bonds’ will be managed by the existing Green Investment Bank.

The benefits of such a scheme to the environment are clear and, brutally, there is a great deal of progress to be made on this score.

By 2020, we need to invest around £100 billion in the electricity system alone, as we replace ageing and polluting sources of power with new, cleaner alternatives; but, at present, investment is running at half that level.

Having promised to be “the greenest government ever” and been pictured with huskies in the Arctic, David Cameron subsequently very firmly ditched his green mask – to the point of giving climate change deniers to key roles in government, including as Environment Secretary.

This total abandonment of Britain’s green agenda is to all our detriment and it falls to the next government to put promoting clean energy and tackling climate change back on the political top-table.

We need to do much more to secure the required levels of green investment in areas such as low-carbon energy generation, energy efficiency, and transport.

In addition, the Green Investment Bank needs new powers to boost investment in green energy if the UK was to meets its environmental targets.

The proposed green bonds would also offer financial advantages for investors, with bondholders seeing a healthy return. Experts believe that they would yield far higher rates of return than many traditional methods of saving.

However, perhaps the most welcome change such a scheme would bring would be to foster the involvement of ordinary citizens in the development of green energy policy and the nurturing of a financial and civic interest in community energy production and distribution.

In many German communities, a majority of the population are investors in an increasingly decentralised green energy system, and see their investments yielding strong returns.

Of course, green bonds aren’t the sole answer to our renewable energy needs, but they’re definitely a very welcome step in the right direction.

Lucy Rigby is Lincoln Labour's candidate to be the city's next MP. She is a solicitor and lives in central Lincoln.

By Lucy Rigby lucyrigby

The Daily Telegraph ‘sting’ that has embroiled two former Foreign Secretaries, Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Labour MP Jack Straw has been the subject of many headlines this week. Whatever the outcome of the investigations into the conduct of both men, the negative publicity has meant that, once again, the name of politicians and Parliament has been damaged.

Almost every week, I meet Lincoln residents who are not just totally disillusioned with politics and with politicians, but openly angry. “They’re all the same” and “they’re only in it for themselves” are some of the most common phrases I hear. And people, understandably, use this as an excuse not to engage in politics at all – including refusing to vote.

I contrast this with my experience of the majority of MPs who I’ve met, who are in politics because they genuinely want to improve the lives of those they represent and work really hard on behalf of their constituents.

The cold reality is that until politicians themselves take some clear and bold steps to clean up politics, many of the people I meet every week will continue to harbour nothing but disdain for what they see as an entirely broken system.

A key element of that clean-up needs to be around MPs’ ‘second jobs’. When Ed Miliband first announced Labour’s policy of banning second jobs for MPs over a year ago, he was criticised by the Tories, but he has been proved right. There have been too many scandals about conflicts of interest in recent years and the present rock-bottom levels of trust in politicians demands serious and clear reforms.

That’s why this week Ed Miliband confirmed that Labour MPs will not be able to hold paid directorships or consultancies after the next election, that a Labour Government will make this a statutory ban affecting all MPs, and will impose a strict cap on all outside earnings by MPs. Mr Miliband has asked David Cameron to follow Labour’s lead and agree with these measures, which could then be introduced as soon as possible.

The ball is now very much in Mr Cameron’s court and I very much hope that he and his MPs seize this opportunity to act. From my own perspective, if I am lucky enough to be elected in just over 70 days time, I would be 100% committed to representing Lincoln and I would not take on a second job. To be honest, I think this is what Lincoln residents would expect.

Ultimately, improving Parliament’s reputation should be a goal for all political parties and unless we act together to undertake a real and genuine clean-up of our political system, fewer and fewer people will engage with politics and our democracy will be much the poorer for it.

Lucy Rigby is Lincoln Labour's candidate to be the city's next MP. She is a solicitor and lives in central Lincoln.