Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has pledged to impose a new “windfall tax” on renewable energy.
The insurgent party also promised to reverse Labour’s tax raid on farmers, apart from those who build solar farms on their land.
Reform leader Mr Farage and deputy Richard Tice made the announcements at a press conference this afternoon.
Mr Tice claimed that green policies were to blame for the deindustrialisation of Britain.
He said Reform would propose “probably a generation tax” and a “special corporation tax rate” in order to “recover” the money paid in subsidies to renewable generators.
The Boston and Skegness MP said: “This is the best way that we can help get the bills down and lower the cost of living.
“The British people need to know there is a direct link between the cost of all these subsidies to the vested interests in the renewables industry and your bills, your cost of living.
“So we will impose a windfall tax, whether it’s wind, whether it’s solar, whether it’s Drax power station, which is another massive con and rip off.”
He said the move would bring down energy bills by up to £350 per household a year.
Mr Tice also vowed that Reform would “abolish this appalling family farms tax”.
But he added: “But I have to say to those farmers who want to sell out to the renewable industry for solar farms, you can’t have it both ways, folks.
“You’ve got to make a decision, either you are part of food production, part of food security for our nation, or you’re part of the renewables industry. So you can’t double dip.
“If you sell out to the renewables industry, then you would not benefit from that inheritance tax relief. That’s only fair.”
Mr Tice said Reform was putting energy companies and the National Grid “on notice” to place power cables underground instead of erecting pylons.
But director of the Conservative Environment Network Sam Hall warned that the “statist plan to put new taxes and red tape on British energy would cause household bills to skyrocket and pull the rug on energy firms”.
He added: “We should be unleashing homegrown energy that can make us more energy secure and self-reliant, not blocking new supply and decimating investor confidence.
“Energy bills are too high and must come down. But the problem is not net zero, it is our reliance on expensive gas imports and excessive government intervention in energy markets.
“To lower bills, we should let the market lead, back innovation, and remove barriers to private sector investment. Reform’s plan is not credible, takes us in the wrong direction, and would leave our children and grandchildren poorer and less secure.”
