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The UK government says halting data centre builds would be a 'disaster for the economy' as drought grips three-quarters of the country.
Britain’s Green Party leader wants to pump the brakes on AI data centre construction. The Labour government essentially told him to keep dreaming.
Zack Polanski, who leads the Green Party, called for a temporary moratorium on approvals for large data centres in England on August 27, arguing that the facilities are draining water and energy resources the country can barely spare. The Labour government fired back almost immediately, calling any such a disaster for the British economy.
A country running dry #
Three-quarters of the UK was dealing with drought conditions when he made the announcement, turning what might otherwise sound like abstract environmental policy into something viscerally urgent.
According to figures cited by the Greens, a single large facility can gulp down up to 1.5 million litres of water per day for cooling purposes alone.
Polanski’s proposal would specifically target large-scale facilities, leaving smaller local projects untouched. He also took aim at data centres’ classification as “critical national infrastructure,” a designation that grants these facilities priority access to power and water. In his view, that status effectively lets tech companies cut in line ahead of hospitals and housing developments when resources are scarce.
“Slam the brakes on these energy-guzzling, water-guzzling datacentres,” Polanski urged, framing the issue as a choice between corporate AI ambitions and basic public needs.
Labour’s counterargument #
A moratorium, the government argued, would scare off investment and leave the UK dependent on foreign nations to process sensitive data.
Labour has been laying the groundwork for this position since 2025, when it established so-called AI Growth Zones. These designated areas are designed to fast-track planning permissions and improve grid connectivity for data centre projects, with the explicit goal of attracting major investments and creating jobs.
The resource squeeze is real #
With drought affecting three-quarters of the country, every litre directed toward cooling servers is a litre not available for agriculture, households, or ecosystems.
The debate mirrors tensions playing out globally. In Ireland, where data centres already consume roughly a fifth of the national electricity supply, regulators have imposed restrictions on new builds in certain areas. The Netherlands issued a temporary moratorium on new hyperscale data centres in parts of the country in 2023. Even in the US, utility companies in Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” have warned that demand is outpacing their ability to deliver reliable power.
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