Get ready for new energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh’s war on London’s drivers
You may not have heard of Miatta Fahnbulleh, but she has a long history of writing bonkers papers for lefty think tanks proposing more low traffic neighbourhoods and ultra low emmissions zones all across London, says Arthur Reynolds
If you thought Ed Miliband’s departure from the energy department marked the end of Labour’s eco-lunacy, I’ve got bad news for you: his replacement is even more of a zealot.
Miatta Fahnbulleh isn’t even a household name in Westminster, but before becoming an MP in 2024 she had a long career at leftist think tanks and authored a number of barmy reports.
One in particular should strike fear into the hearts of motorists across the capital.
In 2021, as chief executive of the New Economics Foundation, Fahnbulleh chaired the ‘Croydon Climate Crisis Commission’. From introducing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) “in every ward” to reducing “the number of parking spaces across the borough”, the policies it recommended demonstrated a disdain for drivers.
In familiar fashion for left-wing policymaking, unintended consequences were not explored.
Published before the Croydon report, a survey from Transport for All showed how disastrous LTNs are for disabled people. Three-quarters of respondents reported increased journey times thanks to LTNs, while a quarter were forced to spend more on petrol or taxis.
Not content with making their lives difficult, Fahnbulleh wanted to dip into motorists’ wallets. Her report recommended extending the Ultra Low Emission Zone “to the M25”, as well as replacing the congestion charge with “distance-based road pricing” “across all of London”.
Reducing car ownership was listed as one of the report’s “measures of success”. This is what passes for aspiration in Labour’s Britain. The wealthy replace their cars; the poor are compelled to give up driving altogether.
Our Andy has form here too. In Manchester, he spent over £100m installing hundreds of signs and cameras to police a clean air zone, only to ditch the scheme after protests against extortionate charges.
Fahnbulleh has her sights set on your holiday too. In 2021, she accused the Tory government of being “reckless” for cutting taxes on domestic flights and demanded a “frequent flyer levy”.
Air Passenger Duty already raises around £4.5bn per year, rendering the economic case for this move, at best, flimsy. But the consequences for civil liberties would be more severe. A levy would require the state to keep an annual ledger of every flight we take – how often I enjoy a city break is none of the government’s business.
She might have morphed into a Palestine activist, but Greta Thunberg once inspired our new Energy Secretary. Writing in 2019, Fahnbulleh praised “audacious school climate strikes and marches” and argued “children taking matters into their own hands” should “direct our actions”.
You needn’t turn up to school and can vote at 16 – life looks rosy for children on planet Miatta.
Support for Extinction Rebellion
Extinction Rebellion – whose activists repeatedly paralysed central London – also excited Fahnbulleh, the privately educated daughter of a Liberian foreign minister.
Her foreword to the New Economics Foundation’s 2019 annual review opined that “the energy” they brought “to the fore” would not be “going away”.
It’s worth remembering that Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion were eco-extremists, not harmless demonstrators. The former called for an immediate end to fossil fuel extraction; the latter for Britain to reach net zero by 2025 and for government to “be led by a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice”.
The fact the minister responsible for our energy policy supported either should make the blood of bill-payers across the country run cold.
At a time when Britain needs cheap energy more than almost anything else, Andy Burnham has installed an energy secretary whose every instinct is to tax and regulate us more.
Forget about hope in every heart, there will be a hole in every wallet.
Arthur Reynolds is a writer