MP’s Notebook: John Prescott and renewable power

Recently, I woke up to the sad news that John Prescott had died. The former Labour deputy leader was a huge political figure who made a unique contribution to the Labour and trade union movement that he loved so deeply. Authentic, funny, tough, highly skilled and, at times, unpredictable, he often used the phrase “traditional Labour values in a modern setting.” In doing so, he would reassure and inspire Party members with whom he had a great bond.

I remember the time he came to Leeds to campaign and we went doorknocking in Holbeck – he was brilliant on the doorstep – but everyone recalls the occasion when he was attacked by a man with an egg during the 2001 general election. John responded by punching him. This was not what MPs, let alone deputy prime ministers, were meant to do! And the press was full of speculation about what would happen.

Tony Blair recounts that after much discussion he went into a press conference the following morning and simply said “John is John“. That same day I remember encountering a voter who understood entirely why John Prescott had reacted in this way. The public was generally much more understanding than sections of the press about what had happened!

He was also very intelligent. He used to chair the cabinet committee where difficult problems would be resolved, and every time I attended he was totally on top of the detail and was brilliant at shepherding us all to an agreement. It was a side of him that very few people saw. He will be much missed.

I was reminded the other day just how important electricity supply is to our economic future when I visited a datacentre in South Leeds. As we make more and more use of the Internet for banking, shopping, keeping our precious family photos and lots of other things, let alone everything to do with work, all this information has to be stored somewhere.

That’s why there has been a continuing rise in the number of places that keep all of this data safe and secure and their number is only going to get bigger as the use of artificial intelligence increases. To do this, they require lots of servers and one of their characteristics is that they produce a lot of heat and require large amounts of electricity to operate.

Apart from the location itself, the two other requirements are the data cables for all the information to come in and a big enough electricity supply to keep the whole show running.

So what’s this got to do with our economic future? Well, businesses looking to build new data centres are going to places where there is enough electricity to run them. And therefore, in the future, the competition between cities and countries, will be to ensure that we can offer what the data centres need and so secure the investment and the jobs that come with them, not only those who work in the centres but also all of those who provide services.

And that set me thinking about the other ways in which demand for electricity is going to increase. The two most obvious examples are charging electric vehicles and heating our homes using heat pumps. I’m told that as of July this year they were 548 publicly available charging points for cars in Leeds, but we will need a lot more, including in the inner city, in apartment blocks, on the road side, and in car parks as well as in our homes.

And that’s why getting to net zero and producing our electricity using renewable energy is going to be so important. Change is coming. It’s a bit daunting, but it also represents an exciting opportunity for the future.

Some things, however, won’t change. For example, Father Christmas won’t find himself riding an electric sleigh, and on that thought may I wish you, your family and all readers of South Leeds Life a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Hilary Benn is our Member of Parliament, representing the Leeds South constituency.

Email: hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk, Website: www.hilarybennmp.com

Constituency office: Unity Business Centre, 26 Roundhay Road, Leeds, LS7 1AB; Tel: 0113 244 1097