When it rains for the Labour lot, it pours. Now Ed Miliband is in the firing line after a new global survey revealed a sharp fall in confidence about net zero among top energy bosses. The Energy Industries Council polling found just one in six energy chiefs believe the world can achieve net zero by 2050 – compared to nearly half of bosses who thought the same last year. Dear oh dear…
Miliband’s Tory counterpart Andrew Bowie was pulling no punches about the results, telling the Daily Mail:
When nearly half of senior energy executives lose faith in it, the government’s energy policy isn’t working. Instead of backing British industry, Labour throws billions at Ed Miliband’s GB Energy vanity projects, lets eco-zealot donors dictate policy and flirts with handing our energy security to China.
Ouch. Don’t hold back, eh?
This shift in confidence is a blow for the Energy Secretary, who has been busy pushing his green agenda since his party came to power last June. Yet despite Miliband’s efforts, just 16 per cent of senior energy execs believe the 2050 target can be achieved – and now his own Prime Minister has watered down his stance on the green goal. Speaking at Scottish Labour’s conference in Glasgow on Sunday, Starmer first pledged £200 million for the Grangemouth oil refinery before promising that ‘oil and gas will be part of the future of Scotland for decades to come’. How curious…
It’s not the first time the Labour leadership has diverged from Miliband’s stance – with the party’s recent turnaround on a third Heathrow runway proving rather controversial, not least given the lefty politician previously threatened to resign over the plans under Gordon Brown. Starmer’s softened stance and the latest polling will come as yet more bad news for Miliband. Bad luck, Ed!
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