Green Party urges temporary ban on new AI data centres
The Green Party wants a moratorium on new AI data centres in England, citing energy and water use; the government rejects the call.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Green Party has called on the government to halt approvals for new AI data centres in England, arguing that the facilities consume excessive energy and water at a time when much of the country is in drought.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said the centres should not be treated as critical infrastructure, a status they were given in 2024. He told the BBC that a temporary ban, or moratorium, was needed except for small, local-scale data centres.
"We need to slam the brakes on these energy guzzling water guzzling data centers," he said. "At a time when three-quarters of a Country are in drought, it's outrageous that these are being considered critical infrastructure. To most people critical infrastructure means hospitals, water, electricity, it doesn't mean artificial intelligence."
The party also wants stricter environmental standards and more community input into where data centres are built. It notes that there are no official statistics on how much water data centres use, because they are not required to report it.
The government has rejected the call, saying any delay would be a disaster for jobs and national security. However, it insisted this was not a blank cheque for big tech. Developers must use clean power, use water responsibly, and provide investment to the communities where they want to build, a government spokesperson said.
The debate comes as parts of the country have experienced drought conditions, raising concerns about competition for water between data centres and households.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One |
|---|---|
| Data centres were classified as critical infrastructure in 2024. | |
| The government said a temporary ban would be a disaster for jobs and national security. | |
| There are no official statistics on data centre water usage because they are not required to report it. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC ONE West report focused on the political clash between the Green Party and the government, giving prominent airtime to Zack Polanski's criticism and the government's defence. It highlighted the lack of official water-use data and the critical infrastructure designation as key points of contention.
- “We need to slam the brakes on these energy guzzling water guzzling data centers essentially, we need basically a moratorium other than local scale data centers for the local community”
- “at a time when three-quarters of a Country are in drought. It's outrageous that these are being considered critical infrastructure to most people critical infrastructure means hospitals Water electricity, it doesn't mean artificial intelligence”
- “the government say that any sort of temporary ban would be a disaster for both jobs and national security”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.