“We are determined to achieve a cleaner, green future, and cutting our emissions to net zero by 2050 is crucial to this. We are already making good progress and have set out billions of pounds in green investment, including decarbonisation and greener homes, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, walking and cycling infrastructure, flood defences and backing enough offshore wind to power every UK home by 2030.”
Not the words of Ed Miliband, but Kemi Badenoch, when she was Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, in 2020.
Barely five years later she now thinks hitting net zero targets by 2050 is a…‘fantasy that cannot be achieved without bankrupting the country or hitting living standards”.
Now you might think given the devastating fires, floods and melting icebergs the idea of doing something about the climate emergency would be even more urgent. And, to be fair, a handful of people have been waiting since she became Tory leader for some indication of policy.
So was this the big reveal in what was trailed as a ‘major policy speech’? Not exactly. In questions after the speech, the Tory leader floated the idea of dropping net zero altogether and said: “It may be that there’s a better way of delivering net zero – or it may be that we shouldn’t be looking at net zero but just focusing on clean energy and energy security, and there’s a different way of doing that.” OK, what might that be Kemi? No idea.
The upshot then is that the leader of His Majesty’s Opposition is not just comfortable with a screeching U turn of her own opinions but also scrapping the 2019 legislation that the government she was part of brought in to meet the 2050 target. And she has no alternative ideas or at least none that she was willing to share.
Baroness May who brought in that legislation in the dying days of her premiership had a tart response – “net zero by 2050 is challenging but achievable… it is supported by the scientific community and backed by the independent Climate Change Committee as being not just necessary but feasible and cost-effective.” The CBI, environmental groups and Tories including former environment minister Chris Skidmore also criticised Badenoch’s comments.
Still, she’s aligned her party with Reform UK when it comes to net zero so that will make the Liberal Democrats or the Green Party even more attractive to some former Tory voters who don’t want to be Reform Lite.
Maybe she should stick to the confected outrage at everything from sandwiches to civil servants, prepare a bit more for PMQs and consider the huge big zero, null points, zilch, nada hanging over her leadership.
