The Government has so far failed to spend any of the £42m budget it has allocated for the development of wave and tidal energy technologies, figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.Recent Parliamentary questions have found that:Ø     · The entire £42m budget for the Wave and Tidal-stream Energy Demonstration Scheme - the Government’s measure for allowing marine technologies to progress through their early phase - has remained unspent since it was announced in 2004Ø     · The associated £2m budget for monitoring the environmental impacts of wave and tidal projects has also remained entirely unspentØ     · Only around one fifth (£1.13m of a budget of £5.64m) of the available budget for infrastructure support has been spent; none of the available funding has been spent over the past year (2007-08)Commenting, Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson, who obtained the information through Parliamentary questions, said:“These figures show the yawning gulf between rhetoric and reality when it comes to this Government’s record on renewable energy.“

Britain has world-leading potential when it comes to wave and tidal energy, yet the Government is sitting idly on the funding which the sector so desperately needs.

“How can the Government hope to meet its targets on renewable energy when it is not even capable of spending the modest funding it has set aside for wave and tidal technology?“This is a vital time for the development of the renewable energy industry. Instead of spending so much time pushing its nuclear energy agenda, the Government should be focusing on getting funding for renewable technologies to where it’s needed.” 

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable sets out some practical solutions to tackling fuel poverty.Vince argues that, by introducing a programme designed to properly insulate homes, carbon emissions could be reduced by a fifth. He also calls for an end to the disproportionately high bills companies charge for those with pre-payment meters, calling for the introduction of a social tariff to ensure that the 2.25 million people currently on pre-payment schemes are not unfairly penalised.

Energy companies have had a £9 billion windfall from the EU emissions trading scheme and Vince argues that they should use at least some of this to increase energy efficiency and cut bills.

Read the full details of the proposals by clicking on this link:

Liberal Democrats Proposals for Reducing Fuel Poverty

Nick Clegg MP, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has launched an exiting new vision for

Britain, and is asking for your views.  Nick says:It’s time for a change in

Britain.
Families are over-stretched.  Things look bad for the economy. Schools and hospitals don’t seem to be improving despite all the extra money and hard work by staff.  People don’t believe politicians care, or really listen.
I want to do things differently.

I’ve always thought that if we want things to really change for the better, we’ve got to open things up.  We need to make sure people get heard, and can make a difference to what happens.
I believe that

Britain can be better.  I want us all to have a fair society, where everyone gets real opportunities and chances in life.  We can make that happen by taking power from government and special interests and giving it to people and communities.
You’re probably fed up with the way so many politicians sound the same these days.  What you really need to know is what we believe, what we’ll actually do - and how we’ll pay for it.
That’s why I have launched “Make it Happen”, setting out our vision for

Britain, which we will be debating at our autumn conference.
I’m asking you to take a look at our ideas. Tell me what you think – and if you’ve got ideas of your own, I really do want to hear about them.
It’s no use wishing things were different. We’ve got to make it happen.
If you join with me, we can.Download a copy of the pamphlet here