Former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne was given eight months in jail for perverting the course of justice yesterday afternoon.

He was sentenced along with his ex-wife Vicky Pryce for passing speeding points to her, changing his plea to guilty at the eleventh hour after their son sent him a text message berating Huhne.

The sentencing would have come weeks ago, but was delayed after the case’s first jury was dismissed by the judge when it couldn’t reach a verdict.

The Lib Dem politician who could once have been the leader of his party is credited with helping to keep renewables firmly on the table during his time in the Cabinet.

After the sentencing, Mr Huhne told the Guardian: “I should have owned up and got on with doing something else with my career”, adding: “It is awful that people I love have been dragged into this gruelling experience,” according to a tweet by the newspaper’s political editor.

Former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has pleaded guilty to perverting the court of justice over claims his ex-wife took speeding points for him.

The former Cabinet Minister stepped down as Energy Secretary after the charges against him last February but denied the allegations. The charges date back to March 2003 when Huhne’s car was allegedly caught speeding on the motorway between Stansted Airport and London.

Speaking outside Southwark crown court today, Mr Huhne announced he will resign as an MP: “I have pleaded guilty today. I am unable to say more while there is an outstanding trial. But having taken responsibility for something that happened ten years ago the only proper course of action for me is to resign my Eastleigh seat in parliament, which I will do very shortly. And that’s all I’m able to say today.”

His former wife, Vicky Pryce, however, has not pleaded guilty to the same offence.

ELN called the DECC office but not surprisingly, they refused to comment.

Former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has bagged a role as an advisor to a firm which benefits from a home improvement scheme he helped set up in office.

Mr Huhne (pictured) resigned from office in February earlier this year when he was charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly passing speeding points to his then-wife, allegations he denies.

Now the Lib Dem MP for Eastleigh is on the books of Nationwide Energy Services (NES), an energy saving advice and installations firm which takes advantage of the Green Deal scheme.

The Green Deal which opened this year gives people upfront loans to pay installers to put insulation in their homes.

According to the MPs’ register of interests, Mr Huhne was paid £20,500 by NES last month as a consultant for “providing advice on business strategy and policy”.

This was made up of a £10,000 signature fee and a retainer of £3,500 a month paid in advance for October, November and December.

It is understood the payments are acceptable under House of Parliament rules but a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Alliance told the Daily Mail the arrangement “stinks”.

Former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne says the Government’s growth policies must include the green agenda if it is to succeed. Investing in industries such as energy efficiency and renewables could help the UK climb out of recession, he added.

Speaking to the Guardian, Chris Huhne said: “Much of our economic debate implies we must choose between going green or going for growth. That view may be the opposite of the truth. There is now hard evidence that the real choice is between green growth or no growth at all.”

Mr Huhne rebuffed Tory attitudes that green could be a barrier to growth: “Energy-saving is the win-win: it has the potential for job creation (for example in household improvements) and it supports growth by cutting bills and boosting spendable income.”

The ex-Cabinet MP gave up his post as Energy Secretary in February to fight criminal charges for allegedly passing speeding points to his then wife Vicky Price.

A group of charities, energy firms and supermarkets have written to new Energy Secretary Ed Davey urging him to pursue opportunities for “clean and affordable energy”.

WWF-UK, M&S, National Grid, Vodafone are just a few of the firms who signed the open letter.

In it, the organisations welcome Mr Davey to the post and hail the “clarity of direction and ambition” he has shown so far.

Mr Davey came into office last week touting “green growth and green jobs” as a priority as well as “getting the best deal for energy bill payers.”

The signatories say they are behind the new secretary and look forward to working with him.

However they ask him to make sure “credible long-term policies and vocal ministerial support across Government” are kept up to give businesses “sufficient certainty to invest” in the UK.

Environmental tax – a headache in the making for Ed Davey

What are environmental taxes?

The Government’s not so sure. It has been massively avoiding the question for months, MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee chuntered this week in their latest report.

Which begs the question, if Government doesn’t know what counts as an environmental tax, how on earth can we?

It also goes to show that spending time locking horns with the Treasury spells no end of trouble: expect evasion, confusion and a massive headache. Ed Davey had better get the paracetamol ready.

Especially if Chloe Smith, the Treasury’s Economic Secretary’s tricky performance last week is anything to go by. She told the environmental select committee that the Treasury was still working on a definition for environmental tax, seven whole months after first asked for one.

The new energy secretary tried to unfurl his green sails on his first official trip as a Cabinet member – which lo and behold was at a wind farm – following the resignation of Chris Huhne on Friday.

Mr Davey declared: “I have long believed in the need to marry our economic and environmental agendas. Greening the economy isn’t just good for the planet – it’s good for the wallets, purses and pockets of every British citizen too.”

Good luck to him, is all I can say. Getting George Osborne to label environmental spending on his spreadsheets as anything other than “Outgoing” will be a huge undertaking for DECC’s new top dog.

As Green Party leader Caroline Lucas told ELN today, “The real challenge will be standing up to the Treasury and the jury’s out as to whether or not he’ll do that.”

But perhaps, as a “trained economist and an environmental campaigner since university,” puffs the DECC website, he’ll have more luck sweet talking the Chancellor’s tight-fisted minions than Mr Huhne. Perhaps.

The new energy secretary Ed Davey faces many challenges over energy policy including a tough battle with the Treasury. That’s the view of Caroline Lucas, the UK’s only Green Party MP, who today said Chris Huhne’s replacement has “big issues on his desk”.

She told ELN this morning: “He’s got some big challenges ahead of him. If you look at things like the Green Deal, the government’s flagship programme to roll out energy efficiency to all homes, it is woefully under resourced.

“If you look at things like the Feed-in Tariff, again a complete, chaotic mess that’s been left there… he’s got some big issues on his desk.”

The Green Party leader said she hoped Mr Davey would stay true to his anti-nuclear background, adding a run-in with the Chancellor could also be inevitable.

She said: “The real challenge will be standing up to the Treasury and the jury’s out as to whether or not he’ll do that.”

It’s full steam ahead for “green growth and green jobs,” according to DECC’s new Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey.

On his first official visit as a Cabinet member, Mr Davey joined Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at a testing site for sustainable homes where he met graduates considering green construction jobs.

Mr Davey declared his priorities in the role are “very simple: green jobs, green growth and getting the best deal for energy bill payers.”

The new Energy Secretary, who takes over from Chris Huhne after his resignation on Friday, said: “There may have been a change at the helm, but there’ll be no change in direction or ambition.

“I have long believed in the need to marry our economic and environmental agendas… By focusing on the low carbon industries of the future we can rebalance our economy, reducing our dependence on the City of London on the one hand and on oil and gas imports from unstable parts of the world on the other.”

The Deputy Prime Minister made it clear he would back his fellow Lib Dem’s stance. He said: “The race is on to lead the world in clean, green energy. Last year we saw record-breaking global investment in renewables – outstripping the cash piled into fossil fuels. The new economic powerhouses – China, India, Korea, Brazil – are now serious contenders for that capital.

“So the choice for the UK is simple: wake up, or end up playing catch up.”

Ed Davey takes over at DECC

Environmental groups have expressed sadness over the resignation of former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne and have praised his work on green issues in the UK.

Margaret Ounsley from WWF-UK said: “Chris Huhne understood the very complex issue of climate change, and fought his corner long and hard within the government to ensure that core policies, such as the fourth carbon budget, were delivered, against the nay-saying of the Treasury. His negotiating skills in Cancun were also key in helping to get the climate change talks back on track after Copenhagen.”

A short time ago, Ed Davey was announced as Huhne’s successor and will have his work cut out for him, according to Good Energy’s boss.

Juliet Davenport said: “It is vital that his replacement keeps up the momentum behind energy reforms. But that has to be matched with a willingness to listen on things like the need for a more decentralised market.”