Nigel Farage's new drive for vote to kill off
Boris's 'ruinous' green agenda: He got us out of the EU… Now the former UKIP
chief demands a referendum on Net Zero
Nigel Farage is launching movement to campaign for a
referendum on Net Zero
Britain Means Business will call for the abandonment
of the flagship green policy
Ex Brexit Party leader says 'political class in
Westminster' has taken the country down a 'ruinous path'
He established movement with Leave Means Leave's
co-founder Richard Tice
By GLEN
OWEN POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED:
22:07 GMT, 5 March 2022 | UPDATED: 02:23 GMT, 6 March 2022
Nigel
Farage is launching a political movement to campaign for a referendum on Boris
Johnson's controversial Net Zero policy to decarbonise the economy by 2050.
The former
Brexit Party leader uses an article in today's Mail on Sunday to announce that
Britain Means Business – modelled on his successful campaign for a Brexit
referendum – will call for the abandonment of the flagship green policy, which
experts claim could cost £1.3 trillion.
Mr Farage's
intervention comes amid growing disquiet within the Cabinet over the burden the
plan will put on an economy already creaking under the strain of the £400
billion Covid crisis and a surge in energy costs exacerbated by the disruption
to gas supplies caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In his
article, Mr Farage says 'the political class in Westminster' has taken the
country down a 'ruinous path' by committing to the Net Zero target without any
public debate being held.
Nigel
Farage is launching a political movement to campaign for a referendum on Boris
Johnson's controversial Net Zero policy to decarbonise the economy by 2050
Mr Farage,
who has established Britain Means Business with Richard Tice, his co-founder at
Leave Means Leave and the Brexit Party, describes the 'Net Zero delusion' as 'a
scandal of epic proportions' which must be challenged.
The former
Ukip leader calls for a 'plebiscite on this act of appalling self-harm',
adding: 'If we are not careful, the only zero will be the amount in people's
bank accounts as we send our jobs and money overseas.'
He writes:
'Without any debate, our energy bills have been loaded with green subsidies.
Our businesses have been disadvantaged, yet our leaders seem happy to outsource
industrial production just as long as they can say it reduces Britain's CO2
emissions…
'We will
campaign for the five per cent VAT on energy bills to be removed.
'Green
subsidies are shovelled straight into the bank accounts of rich landowners,
wealthy investors and foreign-owned conglomerates who own much of the renewable
energy sector.'
Mr Farage's
intervention comes amid growing disquiet within the Cabinet over the burden the
plan will put on an economy already creaking under the strain of the £400
billion Covid crisis and a surge in energy costs
Mr Farage's
call for a referendum on Net Zero will be seen as an attempt to replicate the
success of his campaign for a Brexit referendum, leading to the seismic
consequences of the 2016 vote.
His views
have found an echo in the Cabinet, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak expressing his
concerns to the Prime Minister about the cost of Net Zero.
The
independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has calculated the cost of
making buildings carbon neutral at £400 billion, while the bill for vehicles
would be £330 billion, in addition to £500 billion to clean up power generation
and a further £46 billion for industry.
After
energy savings across the economy, this would leave a £400 billion bill for the
Treasury.
The OBR
also warned that the Government would need to impose carbon taxes to make up
for the loss of fuel duty and other levies.
Nigel
Farage tells Republican Party to drop its 'negative,...
Last week,
peers argued that the younger generation should pay for the Government's Net
Zero pledge because they will be the ones living in a carbon-neutral world
rather than current bill-payers.
The peers
on the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee said the cost should be
met from Government borrowing rather than levies on energy bills – something
that Mr Sunak strongly opposes.
The
committee said there had been a 'failure to put in place credible plans' to
encourage firms to invest money in renewable energy and carbon-busting
technology, and called for a new Government team to manage the project that
would report directly to the Prime Minister.
Ministers
have so far rejected calls from Conservative MPs to scrap Government levies on
energy bills – which make up some 17 per cent of a household's total
expenditure – despite surging domestic gas and electricity costs.
Mr Farage's
intervention coincides with an increasingly heated debate within the Cabinet
over how to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, with household energy bills set
to rise by up to 50 per cent next month.
After Tory
Party managers warned the Prime Minister that voters were likely to punish the
Government for the increases at the local elections being held in May, Business
Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng was tasked with brainstorming ways to reduce the cost
of bills. But suggestions that the burden of the green levies could be shifted
from household bills to the Treasury were opposed by Mr Sunak.
The
Chancellor is concerned that pumping more money into subsidising household
bills could push the soaring inflation rate to historic highs.
Before the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, economists had forecast that inflation would peak
at seven per cent this year; now they fear that – even without extra support –
the disruption to global supply chains caused by the conflict could push it to
nine per cent or even into double figures.
Writing in
today's Mail on Sunday, Mr Kwarteng argues that the United Kingdom needs to
reduce its dependence on oil and gas, which renders us 'vulnerable to Putin's
malign influence on global markets'.
Mr Kwarteng
writes: 'With gas prices at record highs, and the price of renewable energy
plummeting, we need to accelerate our transition away from expensive gas.
'Now, more
than ever, we must focus on generating cheaper, cleaner power in Britain, for
Britain. This is how we become energy independent in the long term.'
It comes
after nearly 40 Tory MPs from the party's Net Zero Scrutiny Group wrote to Mr
Johnson urging him to reverse the Government's resistance to tapping into the
country's shale gas reserves through fracking.
NIGEL FARAGE: The Net Zero zealots are the same
elitists who sneered at Brexit and don't have to worry about paying their gas
bills
ByNigel
Farage For The Mail On Sunday
Net Zero is net stupid.
By taking
Britain down its ruinous path, the political class in Westminster has made a
decision on behalf of the rest of us without any public debate being held,
saddling taxpayers with a debt that few politicians are brave enough to
quantify publicly and even fewer economists are clever enough to forecast
accurately.
It is a
scandal of epic proportions and it must be challenged. That is why we are
launching a campaign today for a referendum on the Net Zero delusion, under the
banner of Britain Means Business.
The origins
of the Net Zero delusion can be found in the dying days of Theresa May’s time
in Downing Street in June 2019.
Desperately
in search of a prime ministerial legacy, Mrs May pushed for an amendment to the
Climate Change Act which would enshrine in law a commitment for Britain to
reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050, making the UK the first G7 economy to
advocate this.
The same
high-minded principles that pertained to Britain’s membership of the EU apply
to Net Zero.
What will
Net Zero cost? Former Chancellor Philip Hammond is one prominent player who has
been prepared to put a number on this crazy scheme. He has said it could hit £1
trillion.
For this
reason alone the time has come for a public debate and plebiscite on this act
of appalling self-harm.
If we are
not careful, the only zero will be the amount in people’s bank accounts as we
send our jobs and money overseas.
Aside from
the cost, the conflict in Ukraine is the sharpest reminder of how little
consideration has gone into the Net Zero policy.
Consider
this. There are vast reserves of shale gas in Lancashire and Yorkshire, yet,
even with the world in such a fragile state, the Government prefers to import
natural gas instead.
Indeed,
there are two shipments from Russia docking at a Kent Port this weekend. Yet
importing gas in tankers creates substantially more CO2.
It is far
more environmentally friendly to use our own shale gas. This shale treasure
under our feet is owned by us all, with a value of trillions of pounds. We can
slash our energy bills and create a sovereign wealth fund for future
generations. Not using our shale gas amounts to gross negligence. Let’s be a
world leader in the new technologies in order to extract it.
The same
applies to coking coal, on which the steel industry relies.
Britain’s
last deep coal mine closed in 2015, yet for as long as our steel industry
survives, coal is needed. Guess how we get it? Britain buys in millions of tons
of coal each year that is mined overseas.
It is for
this reason that it seems crazy not to open the proposed (but so far not
commissioned) Woodhouse Colliery in Cumbria. It would provide what is needed.
Under the
Net Zero delusion, this will never happen.
Much the
same can be said for our offshore oil industry. Recent major North Sea projects
such as the undeveloped Cambo oil field have been shelved, so hostile are
London and Edinburgh to the existence of this energy resource.
The Net
Zero crowd are happy to outsource our energy production as they seek to turn
Britain into the ‘Saudi Arabia of wind’, in Boris Johnson’s words. Yet it is
clear that those espousing these ideas appear not to have given serious thought
to where they are taking us. The more we rely on wind energy, the more gas we
need to use when the wind doesn’t blow.
If we carry
on, we will end up like Germany: entirely dependent on other regimes to keep
the lights on.
The Britain
Means Business campaign recognises that as energy bills rocket to £2,000 per
household, and possibly beyond, we are exposed. Warnings are mounting about
supply concerns –the UK must become energy self-sufficient.
Not only is
this achievable with Britain’s own resources, it will provide tens of thousands
of well-paid jobs in the North of England. That really would be ‘levelling up’.
Our
campaign slogan is ‘Vote power, not poverty’, and we believe that many millions
of people will rally to this cry.
The impact
of expensive energy is not just felt on household bills.
For years,
our manufacturers, refiners, chemical producers and heavy engineers have been
punished too. Without any debate, our energy bills have been loaded with green
subsidies. Our businesses have been disadvantaged, yet our leaders seem happy
to outsource industrial production just as long as they can say it reduces
Britain’s CO2 emissions.
Of course,
the upshot of their insistence in being seen to be ‘green’ is that goods – such
as steel – are produced in countries like India, where lower environmental
standards are accepted. These goods are then shipped back to the UK. This may
keep the privileged rich happy. It may also keep Downing Street happy. But the
perverse irony is that, ultimately, it leads to higher global CO2 levels.
We will
campaign for the five per cent VAT on energy bills to be removed. Green
subsidies are shovelled straight into the bank accounts of rich landowners,
wealthy investors and foreign-owned conglomerates who own much of the renewable
energy sector. This is sheer madness. It is also morally indefensible, as it
costs jobs and makes ordinary people poorer. Removing the VAT penalty was a
fundamental Brexit promise and its continuance is outrageous at a time when
energy bills are soaring.
The
Government’s ludicrous green energy plans have been exposed in recent days by
the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee as uncosted. This is a truth
that Net Zero fanatics would rather keep quiet. They are hell-bent on changing
the way we live, forcing motorists to drive electric cars and buy heat pumps.
Yet the
fact is, many – perhaps most – people cannot afford these products. They
represent an idealistic dream that bears no relation to the hard realities of
life for the majority.
And since
Britain produces just one per cent of global CO2, while China builds scores of
coal power stations every year, why on earth are British taxpayers being
penalised in this way? Only a public debate can settle this question.
During the
past decade, the people forced the political class to allow us a Brexit vote.
The same needs to happen again in relation to Net Zero. Citizens of a free
country deserve a free choice.
Britain
Means Business will hold its first public event in Bolton on Saturday, March
26. Other events in other parts of the country will follow.
This is a
cross-party campaign. It will have considerable support from business.
To truly
succeed, though, we will need to hear from the public. We intend to provide
people with the means to make their voices heard in this most vital debate.
Be in no
doubt, this argument matters to every man, woman and child in Britain. It is
not fair that under Net Zero the elderly will die colder, poorer and sooner.
It is not
fair that the young will be burdened with higher costs, fewer jobs and less
money.
Common
sense must be allowed to prevail.
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