Ed Miliband has hit back over Tony Blair’s assault on his net zero policies as the former prime minister went to war Keir Starmer’s government over climate change.
The ex-PM has publicly warned the energy secretary and other western governments of the “inconvenient facts” that their eco policies are wrong because voters know their sacrifices will not have virtually no impact on climate change.
In a foreword to a report by the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), the ex-PM 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”.
The major intervention has been condemned by climate change activists but given succour to those who have been calling for a Donald Trump-style ditching of the agenda in favour of fossil fuels.
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”.
But with taxation and financing for renewable energy accounting for around 78 per cent of energy bills, Sir Tony has warned of a serious credibility gap with voters and businesses.
The concerns outlined by the former PM 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 follow President Trump and reverse it.
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?”
Meanwhile, the climate change denying group Net Zero Watch posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Even Tony Blair now admits the push for Net Zero has become ‘irrational’ and hysterical’.”
But green activists have reacted with fury.
David Tong, a board member of Greenpeace, retorted: “Tony Blair is somehow the unique kind of broken clock that is not right twice a day and quite possibly hasn’t even been right once since 2001.”
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 – are doomed to fail.
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, doubling in airlines over the next 20 years and the fact that by 2030 almost two thirds of emissions will come from China, India and South East Asia has made a nonsense of current climate change strategies, Sir Tony said. The COP process, the UN led climate change summits, would “not deliver change at the speed require,” he warned.
With local elections and a crucial by-election in Runcorn and Helsby on Thursday there are serious concerns that the energy policies being pursued by Mr Miliband could contribute to Labour being punished at the polls.
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.
In a robust defence of his stance, the prime minister said tackling the climate crisis and strengthening energy security were “in the DNA of my government”.
A spokesman for Mr Miliband pointed out that the UK was already doing what Sir Tony had suggested on investing in more carbon capture schemes that permanently remove carbon from the air and harnesses 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 say they have the support of the business community.
It comes as an analysis published by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) 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.
