Ed Miliband’s net-zero plans risk causing blackouts, says Union boss
The boss of one Labour’s largest supporting unions has urged Sir Keir Starmer to ignore the “false prophets of climate fundamentalism” and rethink the current net-zero timetable.
Writing in the Times, GMB General Secretary Gary Smith warned the government’s pledge to transition to clean power by 2030 could lead to blackouts akin to those in Spain and Portugal last week.
Smith also said banning future North Sea exploration licenses would “accelerate the decline of domestic oil and gas production and increase our dependency on gas imports.”
Unions have become increasingly critical of environmental policy that is not followed up by significant investment to guarantee jobs.
The intervention follows a call by former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair to “reset” net-zero policies.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said last month the union was “not against net-zero but it will not be achieved without serious investment in new jobs.
“Unite has warned time after time, that all the rhetoric about a joined up industrial strategy and future jobs must be backed up with serious investment that actually delivers. What is Labour waiting for? The time to act is now.”
Smith’s comments will be seen as the latest jibe at energy secretary Ed Miliband, who he has previously clashed with over the decarbonisation of the North Sea oil and gas industry.
The union boss said Spain’s “catastrophic” grid failure should be a “massive wake-up call” to ministers.
“I’d like to think our government, at all levels, was asking the critical question, ‘What if this happens to us?’ Because it could have.”
He added: “The real questions are about wider national energy resilience and security of supply, and how both should be at the forefront of governments’ net-zero plans. My union believes the existing trajectory risks putting the energy cart before the industrial horse.”
Smith also reiterated his criticism of the governmet’s ban on North Sea oil and gas exploration licenses, arguing the Dutch were in the process of ramping up gas production amid rising demand.
“Like the Netherlands, four fifths of UK households are dependent on gas for heating. But the government here remains committed to banning future North Sea exploration and production licences,” he wrote.
“This will simply accelerate the decline of domestic oil and gas production and increase our dependency on gas imports. Across society, bill-payers will question why they are subsidising a domestic clean power sprint that is offshoring UK jobs and value.”
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We are making the UK a clean energy superpower so we can take back control of our energy with homegrown power we control. That is how we can protect family finances and our national finances.
“We are unleashing the economic jobs opportunity of clean energy- creating real jobs in our industrial communities.”