Only way to keep British energy prices down is closer ties with Europe, says Starmer’s top negotiator

Only way to keep British energy prices down is closer ties with Europe, says Starmer’s top negotiator Top Starmer ally Nick Thomas-Symonds is pursuing a pragmatic approach to resetting the UK’s relationship with the EU 10 years after the referendum - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Deepening our relationship with the European Union is essential for our energy security and the best way to keep Britons’ energy bills down, a senior minister has said. Writing exclusively for The Independent, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister in charge of negotiations with Europe, has highlighted how plans to strike a deal on energy with the bloc will undo some of the harms caused by Brexit. He said that the current system for buying energy is “clunky, slow, and prone to expensive miscalculations,” but, under a new EU-UK deal on electricity, Britain and the bloc can rely on each other to supply cheap energy, resulting in wholesale costs coming down and subsequently meaning lower bills for consumers. Mr Thomas-Symonds writes: “We’ve all heard a lot across the last decade about how we have an electricity grid that has a capacity, and a demand. Our grid is powered by both homegrown energy – solar and wind – and also oil and gas, though the latter is more expensive to run. “But with interconnectors - of which we have ten, bedded deep in the North and Irish seas, connecting Britain to Europe and Ireland – we can use them to rely on cheaper electricity from overseas when we need it.” He pointed out that “on freezing, windless days, instead of firing up expensive domestic gas plants, we can import cheap French nuclear power” while, because it is a two-way street, “on those incredibly windy summer days, when it feels like the sun never sets, we can export our own clean surplus energy, instead of paying wind farms to switch off.” Currently, traders who buy and sell have to navigate middlemen and buy cable space blind, before they even know the final electricity prices. He warned: “The whole system is clunky, slow, and prone to expensive miscalculations. We’re paying the price for inefficiencies - it is akin to an antiquated freight truck booking system. “That is why it is significant that in the past few weeks, my team has sat down for the first time with the EU's negotiation team to discuss a new deal on electricity. “Linking these two separate markets will make trading more like a de facto modern digital stock market, ensuring power always flows automatically from where it is cheapest to where it is needed - meaning a downward pressure on wholesale costs. “It will bear down on your bills - and that is the biggest prize of all. It’s common sense to negotiate this.” His comments come as millions of Britons are set to see their energy bills rise by 13 per cent next month, as soaring wholesale costs caused by the conflict in the Middle East hit bills for the first time. Energy costs have rocketed since Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping route in response to US and Israeli attacks earlier this year, effectively choking off a waterway that supplies a fifth of the world's oil and gas. Mr Thomas-Symonds added: “There is no defence security without economic security; and no economic security without energy security. “Energy security depends on making sure things run smoothly. Just as with traditional trade - getting food across the Channel - there are permanent objectives: fewer blockages, less friction, more efficiency.” He also bemoaned the way Brexiteers ignored the consequences of leaving the EU with no plan. He said: “I respect the decision the British people made on 23 June 2016. What I do not respect, however, are the decisions made afterwards. If the great question of post-Brexit Britain is how we can ensure, as an island nation, we can deliver national resilience, then energy security is one of the most valuable prizes. “We have lived through a pandemic and watched energy prices become weaponised by global conflict. The effect of these crises is that life has become more and more expensive. No household or business is spared the impact of the volatile cost of energy.” The senior minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s government is writing for The Independent after it launched its Europe - The Way Back campaign. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments