CLAIRE COUTINHO: Miliband ditched Net Zero report knowing it would expose his fantasy promises
Conservative shadow minister Claire Coutinho argues that the government scrapped an official analysis into the hidden costs of Net Zero policies because it would have exposed Labour's pledge to cut household energy bills by £300 as unachievable. She writes that a new report by the think tank Onward, which she says completes analysis she originally commissioned as Energy Secretary in 2023, found that abandoning Net Zero in favour of prioritising cheap electricity could save consumers over £320billion by 2050 while keeping the grid nearly 80% clean.
Coutinho states that when Ed Miliband became Energy Secretary after the 2024 general election, he cancelled the analysis she had commissioned into the hidden costs of relying on wind and solar power, such as back-up power and pylon infrastructure. She claims the savings from scrapping Net Zero would equate to roughly £540 per household annually over the next two decades, achieved by using more gas and nuclear power, and argues that under the current approach, bills have risen by £300 rather than falling as promised, prompting the Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch to formally adopt a policy of abandoning Net Zero.
- Coutinho says Miliband scrapped a report exposing failed bill-cutting promises
- Report claims scrapping Net Zero could save £320billion by 2050
- Tories now formally pledge to abandon Net Zero for cheaper energy
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Coutinho was Conservative Energy Secretary before the 2024 general election and now serves as a shadow minister, while Ed Miliband is her Labour successor in the role. Net Zero refers to the government's target of cutting the UK's greenhouse gas emissions to essentially zero by 2050, largely through expanding wind and solar power. During the election campaign, Labour promised that its energy plans would cut household bills by £300.
At issue is an analysis into the "hidden costs" of relying on renewable energy, such as the expense of back-up power sources and new pylons needed to carry electricity around the country. Coutinho says she commissioned this work while in government, but that it was later cancelled after Labour took office. The think tank Onward has since produced its own report examining these costs and comparing different approaches to reaching Net Zero.
This debate matters because energy bills affect every household, and the two main parties now disagree sharply on how to bring costs down. Labour continues to pursue Net Zero as a route to cheaper, cleaner energy, while the Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch have adopted a policy of abandoning the target altogether, arguing that gas and nuclear power offer a cheaper path. The dispute over this shelved report has become part of the wider political argument about which strategy actually delivers lower bills.