The Petition of London Global Table (an association of people concerned for Global Justice) and others of like disposition.

Declares that the United Kingdom uses interest-bearing money to fund public capital projects thereby increasing the National Debt; requires a new non-inflationary financial mechanism free from interest; the use of national bank-issued interest-free loans is such a mechanism.

Further declares that in the past such a mechanism (using national bank-issued interest-free or low-interest loans) has been successfully used for public capital projects in Canada, New Zealand, and Guernsey and is believed to be currently in use in Malaysia

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to bring forward legislation to enable the Bank of England to issue interest-free loans for public, environmental and clean electricity capital projects, such loans to be repaid and, on repayment, cancelled, thereby halving or more the usual cost in a non-inflationary way.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Norman Baker, Official Report, 11 November 2008; Vol. 482, c. 743 .]

[P000286]

Observations from the Chancellor of the Exchequer:

The Government notes the petition, and makes the following observations:

“The Government is bringing forward measures to increase certainty and incentives for investment in renewable energy technologies. The Energy Act provides powers to introduce banding to the Renewables Obligation to provide more targeted support for newer technologies, and powers to introduce a renewable heat incentive and feed-in tariffs for electricity below 5 MW. These provisions will ensure communities, households and businesses can receive financial reward for the renewable heat and electricity they generate.

In addition, the Pre-Budget Report has recently confirmed that the Government is committed to retaining the Renewables Obligation to provide financial support for large-scale renewable electricity and will extend it to at least 2037. This will ensure that investors can plan with confidence and underpin growing investment in renewable electricity”.