Tony Blair has gone to war with Keir Starmer’s government over its pursuit of net zero policies.
The ex-PM warns energy secretary Ed Miliband his eco policies are wrong because voters know their sacrifices will have virtually no impact on climate change.
Sir Tony claimed voters “feel they’re being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know the impact of global emissions is minimal”.
Sources close to the energy secretary have hit back, pointing out that the green agenda Mr Miliband is pursuing was in Labour’s election manifesto and that Sir Keir has described them as part of “the DNA of the party”.
The concerns outlined by Sir Tony come against a fraught political background where Nigel Farage’s Reform UK have used the “net zero madness” messaging to propel their surge in the polls with a promise to copy Donald Trump and reverse it.
In his dramatic intervention the ex PM said attempts to phase out fossil fuel in the near future – a key aim of the British government and other leading nations – was doomed to fail.
With local elections and a crucial by-election in Runcorn on Thursday there are serious concerns that the energy policies being pursued by Mr Miliband could contribute to Labour being punished at the polls.
The Tories, who have embraced rowing back on net zero under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership, have seized on Sir Tony’s comments.
Shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie said: “It seems even Tony Blair has come to the realisation that Keir Starmer and the Labour Party’s mad dash to net zero by 2050 is simply not feasible, or sustainable.
“As Ed Miliband’s net zero zealotry pushes this country’s energy security even further into the arms of China, and their slave labour supply chains, and risks driving up energy bills further and further, only Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives are telling the truth about energy policy in this country.
“Under new leadership, we have been clear that the cost of net zero by 2050 to families will be far too high, and we must urgently change course. Will Labour now finally be prepared to do the same, and put the national interest above their own ideological dogma?”
The TBI report – “The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change” – was released as Spain and Portugal suffered a mass blackout, with some blaming the Spanish government for going 100 per cent renewable with energy sources.
Global trends such as a massive rise in fossil fuel use by 2030, a doubling of the number of airlines over the next 20 years, and the fact that by 2030 almost two-thirds of emissions will come from China, India and southeast Asia has made a nonsense of current climate change strategies, Sir Tony said. The UN-led climate change conferences would “not deliver change at the speed required”, he warned.
Sir Tony’s criticism is not just confined to the UK, with a wider warning that world leaders know climate change policies are not working but are “terrified” of speaking out for fear of being accused of being “climate deniers”.
His stark warning will fuel fierce debate about the ideological stance taken by Mr Miliband and the pragmatic arguments by Sir Tony who won three elections for Labour by pursuing centrist policies.
It comes only days after Sir Keir declared Britain would go “all out” for a low-carbon future and accelerate the drive to net zero instead of rowing back as some have called for.
A spokesperson for Mr Miliband pointed out that the UK was already doing what Sir Tony had suggested by investing in more carbon capture schemes and harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to develop smarter technology.
A source added: “We’ve just won an election in part on an argument that we need to speed up the clean energy transition. The PM said last week that clean energy is in the DNA of the government.”
Backers of Mr Miliband’s policies on ending coal mining and North Sea oil and gas production, with a focus on wind and solar farms, said they have the support of the business community.
Analysis published by the Confederation of British Industry found that 22,000 net zero businesses, from renewable energy to green finance, employ almost a million people in full-time jobs. The average annual wage in the businesses – £43,000 – was also £5,600 higher than the national average.
