Kemi Badenoch hailed by Tory peer for tearing into Labour’s ‘impossible’ net zero targets: ‘It’s nonsense!’
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has been praised for taking a stand against Labour’s “impossible” net zero targets, as Tory Peer Lord Craig Mackinlay branded them “nonsense”.
She declared that plans for decarbonisation by 2050 “are impossible”, and accused Starmer of “mistaking press releases about GB Energy for actual solutions” rather than presenting realistic plans.
She suggested Labour is deliberately avoiding discussion of a comprehensive plan because “they know it would reveal just how catastrophic the actual costs will be for families, for businesses, and for our economy”.
Discussing Badenoch’s speech on GB News, Lord Mackinlay threw his support behind the Tory leader and admitted he was “very relieved” by her comments.
Mackinlay explained: “It’s sort of broken this consensus that has been across all the parties for too long, that this net zero pathway was set in stone, we’re going to get there no matter what the cost.
“I’m very pleased that Kemi has said hold on, let’s have a reality check here. And I think it is time that we do a bit more of this where we’ve made mistakes in the past.”
The peer advocated for “sensible policies” that would put net zero “back on to some sort of track that’s affordable and sensible.”
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Mackinlay further contextualised the UK’s position globally, suggesting that British efforts alone would have minimal impact.
He stated: “Let’s not forget, the rest of the world is saying year 20 never, frankly.
“If you look at the output of CO2 of the UK now, it’s sort of bumbling along at the bottom, barely a rounding error, and China’s taking off still like a rocket.”
Comparing Britain’s policies to that of other countries, such as America, Mackinlay claimed that it has become a “nonsense” that Britain is bearing the blame for the world’s lack of efforts in tackling climate change.
He concluded: “This has become a nonsense that it’s just bearing one country in this world and it’s us. Whenever you think about the Trump regime, he’s going cheap energy, drill, baby drill.
“You will have a relocation of Western factories from Europe and the UK to either the US or China. Wherever there’s cheap energy, you cannot have net zero and growth. They do not land together in a sentence.”
Badenoch also argued that sustainability costs would significantly increase energy expenses for businesses, further weakening the country’s industrial base and manufacturing sector.
“It will mean our economy losing out on exploiting our own natural resources in the North Sea, while being saddled with ever greater debt,” she stated.