As the Green MEP for the West Midlands, I believe we need urgent action to tackle the climate crisis. Last week I was pleased to visit the National Grid HQ in Warwick (travelling by electric car) to meet senior officers and discuss how the UK can transition to a zero carbon future. The timing of my visit was especially topical, since the previous week’s power cut had highlighted the interdependence of different parts of the grid.
It is often not appreciated just how connected our national grid is to the rest of Europe. We already buy electricity from Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and new interconnectors with Norway, Denmark and Germany will soon come online. These connectors help with managing variable electricity demand, and have also helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The current Prime Minister’s reckless and irresponsible approach of ‘Brexit at all costs’ risks driving the country over the cliff of a no-deal, crash-out Brexit. While National Grid staff will no doubt ensure that the lights stay on, their jobs will be made far harder in the long term. We will still need to trade energy with our closest neighbours, but we will have much less influence over the market or the regulatory framework.

Our interconnected energy system is just one more example of why leaving the EU is a bad idea. Brexit will make us all more isolated and worse off. It has distracted attention for far too long from the bigger issues. Less than 1% of UK government spending goes to the EU – why aren’t we talking about the other 99%? We should stay in the EU, fix our broken UK political system, and focus on the big issues that matter in our daily lives: improving public services and tackling the climate crisis.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Ellie Chowns MEP

Green Party MEP for the West Midlands