Rachel Reeves isn’t working alone. Ed Miliband is doing his level best to bankrupt Britain too.
Ed Miliband he inflicting even more economic damage than Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty)
The Chancellor is killing growth, driving up debt and drowning us under a tsunami of taxes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, our Energy Secretary is doing his best to bankrupt Britain too.
Ed Miliband won’t save the planet, but he will destroy our economy in the attempt. Here are 10 ways he’s making all of us poorer, and won’t stop until he’s finished the job.
1. Driving up housebuild bills. Miliband’s mono-minded net zero charge has baked green levies into our household energy bills. Oxford energy expert Professor Dieter Helm reckons they account for roughly 25% of home energy costs in a “staggering drain” on our economy. And they’re only going to climb, from £5billion in 2015 to £20billion by 2030.
2. Paying wind farms to stop generating power. Our energy grid can’t cope with power surges during windy days. So what does Miliband do? Pay wind farms to stop producing electricity, costing taxpayers more than £670million. Solar farms are also being paid to stop generating power. That’s down to Miliband driving through his green agenda before we have the necessary infrastructure.
3. Massive Sizewell C cost overrun. The government reckons building the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk will cost £38billion. That’s a fantasy. The final bill may be as high as £100billion. Consumers could be on hook for £50billion. Yet another Labour black hole.
4. Grid upgrade nightmare. Miliband’s net zero agenda will cost the UK £800billion, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. This is down to grid infrastructure upgrades and lost fuel duty revenue as petrol cars give way to electric. As ever, taxpayers will stump up.
5. Making “fantasy” pledges. Miliband promised to cut energy bills by £300 by the next election, but two critical projects to adapt the grid to green energy won’t be ready until 2030. Some claim Miliband could end up increasing bills by an eye-watering £900 instead. Yet another Labour election lie.
6. Ignoring tech that works. Miliband is happy to plaster farmland and green fields with solar panels, but snubs less intrusive options. Floating solar is said to be twice as efficient, reduces water evaporation by 70% and avoids unnecessary destruction of farmland. Miliband has sidelined it for reasons known only to him.
7. Hooking UK on Chinese tech. Who makes the solar panels and wind turbines Miliband adores? China, of course. Using energy from coal-fired power plants. And slave labour. Labour’s handing our power grid over to a hostile foreign power.
8. Wrecking North Sea oil. Miliband is taxing and regulating our domestic oil and gas industry out of business. This will cost the UK billions in lost tax revenues and destroy tens of thousands of jobs.
9. Driving up energy imports. As Miliband shuts down UK production, the government is committing £20billion to import Norwegian gas instead. We sending a small fortune to Qatar, too. This is the economics of insanity.
10. Overstating green growth. Miliband’s claims that net zero will create hundreds of thousands of industrial jobs are drivel. And that’s former Labour leader Tony Blair saying that.
Ultimately, Miliband will do nothing to slow or reverse climate change. But he will do an awful lot to slow and reverse the UK economy, and make us all poorer. And he won’t stop.
