Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been accused of “leading Britons down the garden path” with his current plans to achieve net zero.
Speaking to GB News, Shadow Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho said the current policy is “making the country poorer”, vowing to “reverse all net zero legislation”.
According to new analysis by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), Britain could save £14billion a year if it dropped its legally binding 2050 net zero target.
Mr Miliband’s current plan to reach net zero could cost £350billion more than a slower approach, adding £500 per year to British households.
Responding to the report, Ms Coutinho told GB News: “We’ve said we would reverse net zero legislation, because the problem is it’s making the country poorer.
“My party has obviously had different views on this over the years, and when I came in as Energy Secretary, the first thing that I did was start a net zero reset because we weren’t being honest about the costs.”
Stressing that the report highlights a “rushed pathway” to achieving net zero, the top Tory added: “And actually what this report does, and I think it’s very important that people understand, is for the first time show that a rushed pathway to net zero, as the Labour Party want to do, is going to add enormous amounts of costs to our energy system.
“£350billion is their middle scenario, and the reason that’s important is that’s a £500 hit to households a year. It’s equivalent to 0.4 per cent of GDP, and it means we will have uncompetitive energy prices for the next 25 years. We simply can’t afford to do that.”
Claire Coutinho has accused Ed Miliband of ‘leading Britons down the garden path’ with his Net Zero policy
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GB NEWS
Declaring that she and Kemi have “changed the party’s position” on net zero due to the extensive costs, the Shadow Energy Secretary stated: “And this has been the crux of our argument, and why we and Kemi and me have changed the party’s position.
“We cannot afford to industrialise, we cannot afford to miss out on the growth, for example, of AI, and we cannot afford for all people’s living standards to continue to suffer.”
Accusing Mr Miliband of “leading Britons up the garden path”, Mrs Coutinho told GB News: “The other thing which I think is simply absurd is if you are someone who wants to see the country move to electrification, that’s one of the other key objectives of net zero, people move to electric home heating and electrics for their cars, you’re doing that at the same time as making electricity incredibly expensive.
“It is simply two things pulling in the wrong direction. And Ed Miliband, I’m afraid, with his promises of cutting people’s bills by £300, has been shown to just be leading people up the garden path.
NESO has found that Ed Miliband’s plan to reach net zero by 2050 could cost £350billion more than a slower approach | GETTY
“He should do a true costing of his plan, so people can really see what Labour’s plans mean for their bills.”
Asked for her thoughts on Labour’s decision to appoint 25 peers in the House of Lords, Ms Coutinho questioned why the Government is “struggling with the Lords so early on” into their tenure.
She explained: “It’s in the gift of the Prime Minister to put people in the Lords, but the question I would ask is, why are they struggling with the Lords so much so early on into the political cycle?
“And the reason is that they have brought forward legislation which is incredibly controversial – assisted dying, decriminalisation of abortion right up to full term, and lifting the two child benefit cap, for example, that they simply did not tell people about at the election.
Ms Coutinho told GB News that Britain ‘cannot afford’ to continue with Labour’s net zero plans
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GB NEWS
“And I would argue, rather than just trying to stuff the Lords, what Keir Starmer should do is wonder why people are so worried about his programme for Government and doing all of these things that they just did not tell anyone about two years ago.”
Hitting back at the top Tory, host Stephen Dixon argued that it “isn’t unusual” for a Government to appoint in the House of Lords, and “every party has done it throughout history”.
Ms Coutinho responded: “Well, like I said, it’s in his gift to put people in the Lords, but the worry that you’ve got is what are the Lords opposing them on that they are having to do this?
“One of things is assisted dying, and that’s been an incredibly controversial piece of legislation going through Parliament, and it’s because they didn’t tell anyone. They didn’t tell anyone that they were going to do that.”
