Ed Miliband has lashed out at Kemi Badenoch, branding the Tory leader a “Reform tribute act” over her decision to ditch net zero policies.
The energy secretary’s attack comes after Ms Badenoch announced that the Conservatives would no longer pursue net zero if she won power again.
Going further than even some of her close allies predicted, she revealed she would even repeal the landmark Climate Change Act 2008 and other legislation, promoting criticism from Conservative grandees – including Theresa May – who said it would be a “catastrophic mistake”.
Ms Badenoch claimed that her party still wants to leave “a cleaner environment for our children” but argued “Labour’s laws tied us in red tape, loaded us with costs, and did nothing to cut global emissions”.
However, writing exclusively for The Independent, Mr Miliband condemned her new approach.
He said: “Badenoch is attempting a Reform tribute act, who have boasted that they would wage war on the clean energy economy.
“As I said at Labour conference this week, we should be clear that their policies would mean war on the workers at the Siemens wind turbine factory in Hull, war on the construction workers building carbon capture and storage in Teesside, a war on the working people of Britain, and all out war on future generations too.”
He warned that the new policies would harm the economy.
“This policy is anti-jobs, anti-worker, anti-young people, and anti our country’s future. It represents not just a wrong turn, but a lurch away from a framework that has delivered for working people for nearly two decades.
“The Climate Change Act, passed by a Labour government with Conservative support in 2008, has been the foundation for tens of billions of pounds of investment in homegrown British energy. It was businesses that campaigned for this framework in the first place, recognising that clear rules and certainty could power innovation and investment.”
The Labour minister has been pushing green energy projects around the country, a sector he says is now “booming”.
He said that it is “supporting nearly a million high-paying jobs.”
“Whether it is nuclear apprentices at Sizewell C, or engineers delivering carbon capture in the North East, there are workers across the country who are in good jobs with good pay thanks in part to the legacy of the Climate Change Act.
“That is why Rain Newton-Smith, Director General of the CBI, put it plainly today; the Climate Change Act has been the ‘bedrock’ of investment in the UK’s clean energy economy.”
He argued that Ms Badenoch was not only harming the economy but attacking British values.
“I do not believe that the British people want a war waged on the clean energy that can bring not just jobs but also bring down bills by getting us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets.
“This is not just about economics. It is about our identity and our values as a country. I was struck by the words today of the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, who spoke of the Climate Change Act as reflecting ‘the best of who we are: a nation that cares for creation, protects the vulnerable and builds hope for future generations.’ That is the Britain I believe in.”
