Richard Tice really doesn’t like net zero. The last time the Reform deputy leader mentioned it in parliament – during topical questions for the Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband – he referred to the policy as “net stupid zero”, sounding more like a precocious toddler than an MP. So, it was no surprise to hear Tice target the plan to cut carbon emissions again last week, telling a press conference that his party plans to put “the renewables industry on notice”.
According to Reform, the UK’s net zero policies are to blame for the UK’s steep energy costs and declining industrialisation. Tice described renewable energy as a “massive con” and a “rip-off” and explained that Reform would tax solar farms and run energy cables underground rather than on pylons. Appearing on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg TV show yesterday, Tice doubled down on his anti-net zero zeal: “We’d scrap the whole thing and save tens of billions of pounds… we don’t need net zero. It’s destroying jobs. It’s destroying industries.” I think you get the picture.
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