'We got Net Zero by 2050 all wrong': Theresa May's Energy Minister Claire Perry, Times Radio 31May26
Claire Perry O'Neill https://politicsthisweek.gn.apc.org/2026/06/the-bristol-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-25/ Claire is a global expert in the fraud of decarbonisation, with experience spanning government, the UN climate system and the boardroom. A former G7 Minister, she now advises and serves on the boards of leading global companies. https://www.claireperryoneill.com/ Is Ed Miliband’s push towards net zero heading for trouble? As the government confirms an intermediate target of an 87% cut in greenhouse gases by 2040, doubts about the plan are growing Ed Miliband has signed up to a legal target to cut UK climate-changing emissions by 87 per cent by 2040, prompting the usual slew of stories about heat pumps, electric cars and eating less meat and dairy produce. The energy secretary is promoting the dry announcement of an intermediate target on the way to net zero by the middle of the century by emphasising “energy security, jobs and investment” rather than the aim of minimising climate change. “Families and businesses will continue to reap the benefits of the clean energy transition in the coming decades,” he said, “as Britain steps up action to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster.” Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said that the new emissions target “will make us weaker, poorer and send everyone’s energy bills even higher”. Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform and its energy spokesperson, accused Miliband in the Commons of “inadvertently misleading” parliament about the benefits of the government’s energy policy. What is the government proposing? The government is required by law – the Climate Change Act 2008, introduced by Miliband in the last Labour government and strengthened by the Conservatives under Theresa May – to set out five-year “carbon budgets” to show how the country will reach the target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Miliband has accepted the seventh carbon budget, going up to 2038-42, as proposed by the independent Climate Change Committee. The committee’s reports consistently suggest its targets will require banning gas boilers, banning petrol and diesel cars and dramatic changes in diet – but ministers run a mile from such unpopular ideas and pretend that the targets can be achieved by other, unspecified changes. What happened to the net zero consensus? The casual way parliament legislated for net zero in the dying weeks of Theresa May’s premiership seven years ago ought to be an embarrassment to our democracy. Kemi Badenoch, then a Conservative backbencher, said: “Many of my constituents, especially schoolchildren, will be delighted by this announcement, but others are rightly sceptical about the costs. What steps will the minister take to ensure that the plan will be achievable and affordable?” She didn’t get much of an answer, and the order was passed unopposed, increasing the target set by the Climate Change Act 2008 of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from 80 per cent to 100 per cent – that is, to “net zero” – by 2050. Since then, the doubts have grown. Many of them have been stoked by Nigel Farage’s Reform party and by right-wing Conservatives, which has tended to force Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters of net zero to double down. But Tony Blair broke the conspiracy of silence on the left in April last year, when his institute issued a report warning that “phasing out” fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail. Monday’s release of documents related to Peter Mandelson revealed that Blair had supporters at the heart of government. Pat McFadden, who was then minister for the Cabinet Office, messaged Lord Mandelson to say “TB content bang on”. How has Ed Miliband fought back? The energy secretary cites studies from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, supported by analysis from the CBI Economics, which reports that the “net zero economy” supports over 1 million jobs in the UK, adding £105bn in gross value added to the UK economy in 2025, “as it continues to thrive as one of the UK’s fastest-growing economic sectors”. https://archive.is/GCP1e
Claire Perry O'Neill https://politicsthisweek.gn.apc.org/2026/06/the-bristol-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-25/ Claire is a global expert in the fraud of decarbonisation, with experience spanning government, the UN climate system and the boardroom. A former G7 Minister, she now advises and serves on the boards of leading global companies. https://www.claireperryoneill.com/ Is Ed Miliband’s push towards net zero heading for trouble? As the government confirms an intermediate target of an 87% cut in greenhouse gases by 2040, doubts about the plan are growing Ed Miliband has signed up to a legal target to cut UK climate-changing emissions by 87 per cent by 2040, prompting the usual slew of stories about heat pumps, electric cars and eating less meat and dairy produce. The energy secretary is promoting the dry announcement of an intermediate target on the way to net zero by the middle of the century by emphasising “energy security, jobs and investment” rather than the aim of minimising climate change. “Families and businesses will continue to reap the benefits of the clean energy transition in the coming decades,” he said, “as Britain steps up action to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster.” Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said that the new emissions target “will make us weaker, poorer and send everyone’s energy bills even higher”. Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform and its energy spokesperson, accused Miliband in the Commons of “inadvertently misleading” parliament about the benefits of the government’s energy policy. What is the government proposing? The government is required by law – the Climate Change Act 2008, introduced by Miliband in the last Labour government and strengthened by the Conservatives under Theresa May – to set out five-year “carbon budgets” to show how the country will reach the target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Miliband has accepted the seventh carbon budget, going up to 2038-42, as proposed by the independent Climate Change Committee. The committee’s reports consistently suggest its targets will require banning gas boilers, banning petrol and diesel cars and dramatic changes in diet – but ministers run a mile from such unpopular ideas and pretend that the targets can be achieved by other, unspecified changes. What happened to the net zero consensus? The casual way parliament legislated for net zero in the dying weeks of Theresa May’s premiership seven years ago ought to be an embarrassment to our democracy. Kemi Badenoch, then a Conservative backbencher, said: “Many of my constituents, especially schoolchildren, will be delighted by this announcement, but others are rightly sceptical about the costs. What steps will the minister take to ensure that the plan will be achievable and affordable?” She didn’t get much of an answer, and the order was passed unopposed, increasing the target set by the Climate Change Act 2008 of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from 80 per cent to 100 per cent – that is, to “net zero” – by 2050. Since then, the doubts have grown. Many of them have been stoked by Nigel Farage’s Reform party and by right-wing Conservatives, which has tended to force Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters of net zero to double down. But Tony Blair broke the conspiracy of silence on the left in April last year, when his institute issued a report warning that “phasing out” fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail. Monday’s release of documents related to Peter Mandelson revealed that Blair had supporters at the heart of government. Pat McFadden, who was then minister for the Cabinet Office, messaged Lord Mandelson to say “TB content bang on”. How has Ed Miliband fought back? The energy secretary cites studies from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, supported by analysis from the CBI Economics, which reports that the “net zero economy” supports over 1 million jobs in the UK, adding £105bn in gross value added to the UK economy in 2025, “as it continues to thrive as one of the UK’s fastest-growing economic sectors”. https://archive.is/GCP1e