Gordon Brown took on David Cameron for the green vote yesterday with a series of energy-saving moves that he claimed would bring down the typical family bill by more than £200 a year.

After Mr Cameron announced measures to tackle climate change with plans to increase aviation taxes, the Chancellor adopted what officials said was a more voter-friendly approach by promising that every home would be properly insulated by 2010, with the work being done free for low-income families, and with discounts for the better off.

He said that Britain would phase out the domestic use of all old-fashioned lightbulbs by 2011. And retailers will be asked to remove “stand-by” facilities from televisions and DVD players to prevent electricity being wasted when they are left on during the night.

The clash between the parties came on the eve of today’s publication of the long-awaited Climate Change Bill, which will contain a proposal for annual reports to Parliament on the Government’s progress towards meeting its climate change objectives.

While falling short of Conservative and green campaigners’ demands for annual emission targets, the system of annual reporting is a significant change by ministers.

Mr Brown indicated in his speech to the Green Alliance last night that the Bill would create for the first time a system of five-year statutory carbon budgets, placing an overall limit on emissions.

The budgets will be set after advice from an independent committee on climate change.

Mr Brown said it would be a “wholly new way” of managing Britain’s climate change effort, sustained by proper public accountability. He added: “Just as we manage our financial budgets over the economic cycle with prudence and discipline, so we will manage our carbon budgets with the same prudence and discipline. Chancellors of the Exchequer will now count the carbon as they currently count the pounds.”

Mr Brown also said there would be new incentives for microgeneration, such as solar water heating, micro wind turbines and ground-source heat pumps, with the aim of an eightfold increase in the number of households that are producers as well as consumers of energy. He also announced he would be pushing for EU agreement to reduce VAT on energy saving products across Europe.

The Conservatives accused him of recycling old policies, and suggested he first produced his “insulation speech” 12 years ago.

Mr Brown has already announced a scheme to give pensioners free home insulation but yesterday said it would be extended to about eight million homes and flats that needed it.

Both he and Tony Blair hit out at Mr Cameron’s plans to put VAT on aviation fuel and increasing air passenger duty.

Reporting to the Commons on last week’s EU summit, the Prime Minister said that a balance had to be struck, and that was why he was dubious about Mr Cameron’s plans. “The problem is that we might hit our own consumers and businesses very hard in our country.”

Mr Blair added that binding annual targets were too inflexible. “There can be changes in temperatures or costs or prices which make a really dramatic difference for the economy to cope with such a binding target.” Mr Brown said Conservative policies on flights would do “huge damage to business and the consumer”.

The Treasury calculated last night that Mr Brown’s insulation plans would take an average of £160 off a household bill, the phasing out of lightbulbs would reduce it by £30 and the elimination of wasteful standby facilities would save £45. It claimed that the package of measures would not just save six million tonnes of carbon, but £4.40 a week from a typical household energy bill.

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said that the only thing about Mr Brown that was green was his recycling of policies. “He first started announcing insulation schemes 12 years ago to the day. He told us twice in the last year he wanted an end to TV standby buttons and his light-bulb plan is less ambitious than the one launched by the EU last Friday.”

Mr Brown said: “I know the British people want to do the right thing. If you take the home, by first eliminating standby, which is wasteful of electricity, then by removing the short-life electric bulbs and replacing them with long-life bulbs, then by completing insulation we can make a huge difference.”

In a dig at Mr Cameron’s attitude towards the European Union, Mr Brown said that only a government committed to the UK’s role in Europe could show the necessary leadership. “Euroscepticism and continent-wide environmental action are at odds with each other,” he said.

“A government ambivalent about the UK’s future in Europe and allied to the most reactionary forces in the European Parliament would have no credibility, no influence and no achievements.”

The Chancellor said he had extended his ambition for all new homes to be “zero carbon”. “New homes are only a small percentage of the total, so today I want to extend our ambition to all homes.”

How they compare

Gordon Brown

Car Vauxhall Omega. Says he will replace it with a more environmentally friendly car

Home Turns his television off standby in the evening, does not charge his mobile phone overnight and has solar panels. Says he tries to compost his waste

Flights Regularly flies to Dunfermline East constituency and claimed £6,953 on air travel in the financial year 2005-06

Holidays Visits to New England are not unheard of but his spokesman said that the Chancellor spent the past three summers in Scotland because of his children

David Cameron

Car Has a large car to accommodate his son’s wheelchair but sometimes cycles to Parliament

Home His new home, still being completed, will have wind turbines and solar panels. Claims to have switched energy supplier to a renewable source

Flights Official trips last year include Israel, India, Iraq and Afghanistan, but the flights were offset

Holidays Went to Corfu last summer, and flew in a private jet to Germany for the World Cup. Plans to travel to France by ferry this year

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