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New Prime Minister, New Plans: How to Build a Greener and Stronger Britain

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  New Prime Minister, New Plans: How to Build a Greener and Stronger Britain A new Prime Minister brings the possibility of a fresh start—but cutting bills for a few months will not be enough. Britain needs a long-term plan that treats clean energy, stronger industry, better homes, skilled employment and environmental protection as parts of the same national mission. Andy Burnham became Prime Minister on 20 July 2026, promising a ten-year plan, greater political stability, stronger public control of essential services and the reindustrialisation of Britain. His first major cost-of-living announcement was the removal of the 5% VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October. The government estimates that this will reduce the annualised Ofgem price cap by approximately £45, in addition to the average £150 removed from bills through earlier measures. The VAT reduction is currently funded for this financial year, so the longer-term policy has yet to be decided. That is welcome—b...
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The Cloud Needs Water: The Missing Resource in Britain’s AI Growth Plan

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  The Cloud Needs Water: The Missing Resource in Britain’s AI Growth Plan Artificial intelligence may appear to exist somewhere in “the cloud”, but the infrastructure behind it is physical, power-hungry and, in many cases, surprisingly thirsty. AI may live in the cloud, but the cloud is not weightless. It consists of enormous buildings filled with densely packed processors, storage systems, cables, cooling equipment, pumps and backup generators. Every AI request, cloud backup, streamed film and online transaction ultimately depends on physical machinery producing considerable quantities of heat. That heat must be removed. In some data centres, air and sealed cooling circuits do most of the work. In others, water is evaporated through cooling systems. Even where relatively little water is used inside the building, additional water may be associated with generating the electricity that powers it. Water UK has now issued a stark warning: Britain’s ambitions to expand artificial ...
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Building the Low-Carbon Home of the Future

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  Building the Low-Carbon Home of the Future New Homes Are Improving—but We Can Go Much Further A newly built home should be one of the most energy-efficient, comfortable and environmentally responsible homes available. After all, it is much easier to install insulation, cables, ventilation ducts, solar panels and low-carbon heating while a house is being built than it is to return five years later, lift floors, remove plasterboard and start again. New homes are undoubtedly greener than homes built only a few years ago. In England, the 2026 Future Homes and Buildings Standards require high levels of energy efficiency, low-carbon heating and, in most cases, solar panels. These homes are intended to be “zero-carbon ready”, meaning they should not require major retrofitting to achieve zero operational carbon as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise. That is an important step forward. However, building regulations establish a minimum standard. They do not necessarily describe t...
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