The left-wing Labour Party will reportedly set up a new bureaucracy to push through a “net zero” environmental policy if it wins the July 4 general election.
In the fierce race to eliminate carbon emissions in the UK, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s transition team will seek to set up a “net zero office” to be led by Sue Gray, a former top bureaucrat and Starmer’s chief of staff, Sky News has reported. Reports.
Gray, who controversially left the party to join Labour after leading the investigation into the lockdown party scandal that contributed to the collapse of Boris Johnson’s government, will reportedly aim to form a group of civil servants dedicated to accelerating the green transition.
Labour has sought to make environmental policy a differentiator from the ruling Conservatives, but in reality there is little separation between Westminster’s two major parties on the issue.
Indeed, Chancellor Rishi Sunak already set up a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DesNes) last year, but its role was solely oversight, whereas Labour’s reported plans would see it become more active on policy.
Furthermore, in a sign of the similarities between the two establishment parties, Labour has put forward a left-wing vision of decarbonising the electricity system within 10 years, while the supposedly conservative Democrats have pledged to achieve this by 2035.
Under the Conservative government, the government also banned fracking, meaning the country became more vulnerable to international price shocks, such as those caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 12, 2024
This one-party approach is being challenged by that of Nigel Farage’s pro-energy Reform UK, which has vowed to cut all environmental subsidies, claiming this would save taxpayers £30 billion a year over the next 25 years.
“Net zero would drive up bills, damage UK industries like steel and make us less safe. We can protect the environment by planting trees, recycling more and using less single-use plastics. New technologies will help, but we cannot impoverish ourselves in pursuit of unaffordable and unattainable global carbon targets,” Mr Farage’s party argued.
The Reform Party also wants “fast track permits” for companies to drill for natural gas and oil in the North Sea. The party also says a shale gas hydraulic fracturing test site would be opened for two years, with large-scale production to begin once safety measures and a local compensation scheme have been put in place. Farage’s party also called for a push towards “clean nuclear energy”, including building new small modular reactors in the UK.
Voting power, not poverty: Brexit leader Nigel Farage launches campaign against Green ‘net zero madness’ https://t.co/2wH1KIkq3R
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 7, 2022
