Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has launched a fierce attack on Nigel Farage and the Conservatives, accusing them of spreading “dangerous nonsense and lies” by blaming Britain’s net zero targets for the collapse of the country’s steel industry.
With crucial local elections looming in May, the Labour government is fighting back against what it sees as politically motivated attacks on the clean energy agenda. Both Reform UK and the Tories have pointed to high energy costs as the reason for British Steel’s struggles, claiming renewable energy prices are pushing the company to the edge.
Reform UK has used the crisis to argue for renewed North Sea oil and gas drilling, despite declining reserves and the fact that most of the output is exported. Farage has also pushed for energy self-sufficiency, a message he is promoting across ten English counties this week.
Miliband, drew parallels between today’s energy crisis and the chaos unleashed when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, which exposed the UK’s vulnerability to foreign fossil fuel markets. He stressed that clean energy independence is a matter of national security and economic resilience, especially for families still struggling with the cost-of-living fallout.
“There’s a reason we need to break free from foreign energy dependency,” he wrote. “Our exposure to fossil fuels devastated households and public finances when markets collapsed. That legacy still haunts people today.”
The energy secretary dismissed the anti-net zero rhetoric from the right as ideologically driven misinformation. “Farage and the Conservatives will say anything to serve their agenda,” he said. “They’re playing politics with our future.”
Polling data suggests that the public broadly supports the UK’s climate commitments. Luke Tryl, UK director at research group More in Common, noted that Reform’s climate position could become a liability. “People care about climate change and see renewables as part of the solution,” he said. “Even Reform voters don’t rank net zero as a priority issue.”
Labour insiders confirmed the party will target Farage and Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch on energy policy, accusing them of leaving Britain exposed to foreign market shocks.
Farage has pledged to reindustrialise Britain and supports nationalising the steel industry typically a left-wing policy. But climate advocates dismissed his vision as delusional. “Farage is selling a dangerous fantasy,” said Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift. “North Sea production is declining. That’s a geological fact, not a political choice.”
Official forecasts suggest the UK will still import 94% of its gas needs by 2050, even if new fields are opened barely different from the 97% projected if no new development occurs.
Meanwhile, Labour is doubling down on its green energy plans, particularly its Great British Energy initiative one of its most popular policies. It aims to install solar panels on the rooftops of 200 schools and 200 hospitals.
Khan said: “Farage is risking thousands of future clean energy jobs by clinging to a dying industry. What’s his plan for oil and gas workers, other than selling them false hope?”
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