Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson warns that scrapping heat pump help in the Budget would be a 'gift to Russia'

Greg Jackson, founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, says China has already won the battery race and Britain risks handing its clean energy future to rivals by abandoning domestic support. Writing ahead of the Budget, Jackson argues that modern heat pumps draw under a quarter of the energy a gas boiler consumes, making them central to cutting bills. He warns that policy uncertainty, not technology, is the main barrier to Britain competing.

Jackson says he met two Chinese clean energy leaders whose products he describes as 'genuinely amazing' — and a pension fund chief who concluded China is unbeatable on batteries.

Chinese EV grants introduced in 2010 built a world-leading supply chain; Jackson argues Britain needs the same long-term policy commitment this week.

Oil prices have stayed lower than expected during the Hormuz crisis partly because Chinese demand has dropped sharply, Jackson says, as its rapid electrification cuts oil dependence.