The government, however, indicated in July that it was considering expanding the replacement subsidy to include air-to-air heat pumps, popular in European countries including France, Italy, and Norway.
Tory MP Bradley Thomas, currently a parliamentary private secretary to Coutinho, said “the government is pushing, on the one hand, a very electricity-intensive technology in the form of air-source heat pumps, but at the same time precluding people from making an upgrade that could also cool their home and get a financial subsidy in the process.”
Energy efficiency ratings, which some say don’t properly factor in the capacity of heat pumps, are also the subject of criticism.
Campaigners are increasingly frustrated not just with the government, but with backbenchers who they believe are too scared to criticize the government and push for progress on the issue. They single out the Labour Growth Group, a key backbench caucus in the parliamentary Labour party.
One campaigner, granted anonymity to speak frankly, said of the Growth Group that “there’s very little heft there… they’re like: ‘Let’s just build things.’ But it’s not a matter of just shouting ‘let’s build things.’ I think courage is certainly an element that they’re missing.”
Boomer mentality
Politicians could find the heat on them if they do not engage with the issue, especially as climate change furthers extreme weather patterns and younger voters show themselves to be more concerned by it than their older compatriots.