NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

Following Kemi Badenoch’s pledge to abolish Net Zero, I questioned whether the wets in her party would let her get away with it.

The wets, many of whom are little more than Lib Dems in disguise, are ably represented by and often members of the Conservative Environment Network, CEN, which has been vigorously campaigning in support of Net Zero and associated green policies for years.

Last month, its Director, Sam Hall wrote this piece for Conservative Home. It proves beyond doubt that a leopard never changes its spots!

Sam Hall begins by ludicrously trying to defend Conservative Government policies:

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the first offshore wind farm to come into operation off the coast of Blyth, the first of the 45 offshore wind farms that have sprung up across Britain.

This growth was delivered almost entirely by Conservative governments stimulating private investment into the sector. This market-driven approach not only helped mitigate the impact of the gas price spike following the Russian invasion of Ukraine but also ensured offshore wind delivered better value for money for taxpayers over successive auction rounds and brought tangible economic benefits to coastal areas. We should be more vocal about celebrating this legacy, as well as acknowledging mistakes. 

Celebrate? What planet is this guy on? He should be ashamed of the fact that, largely thanks to his party’s policies, we will be paying more than £20 billion this year alone to subsidise wind farms and other renewables, most of which, as he rightly says, were signed up under the Tories’ watch.

He goes on to support Badenoch’s prioritising of cheaper energy, but still maintains we need more renewables:

Kemi by contrast is asking the right questions when it comes to energy. She is prioritising cheap electricity, wants to cut red tape to make it easier to build new nuclear, and is calling for an end to the windfall tax on oil and gas companies to boost energy investment.

But achieving energy security and affordable bills does not have to be mutually exclusive with growing our offshore wind sector. At the right price, it still has potential to reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels and deliver cheap, clean energy to households and businesses. But this requires cutting red tape, dropping arbitrary clean power targets, and harnessing markets and price signals to eliminate waste. 

Does Mr Hall realise that there is no such thing as “cheap” offshore wind power. I have no objection at all to anybody building a wind farm, as long as they sell their power on the open market and don’t ask for guarantees and subsidies. They won’t because it would never be viable.

If he really wanted cheaper energy, he would call for the immediate abolition of all carbon taxes.

He tries to justify his policy by appealing to opinion polls, which supposedly show that renewables are popular! They may be popular amongst people who believe the lies that they are cheap! But more wind farms will simply send energy bills higher still, as we learnt this week.

I know which option the public would choose between more renewables and lower bills!

Sam Hall has inadvertently exposed the real agenda of the green wing of the party.

They are ideologically wedded to renewable energy and are blind to the costs already imposed by their own policies. They still believe the pursuit of Net Zero by successive Tory governments was right.

They will not give up Net Zero without a fight.