By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2025-04-05 14:00:27 | Updated at 2025-04-06 05:18:28
15 hours ago
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband needs to "accept reality" rather than pursuing Net Zero policies which are "dragging the whole economy down", director of Net Zero Watch has claimed.
Andrew Montford made the claim after figures revealed that Miliband's Department for Energy Security & Net Zero spent over £40,000 on UK flights in Labour's first six months in office.
New figures show the total bill for Miliband's department topped £43,644 bill for internal flights between July and December last year.
The spending on domestic air travel exceeded the £40,279 spent under the Conservatives in the first half of 2024.
Andrew Montford claimed Ed Miliband is "dragging the whole economy down".
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Speaking to GB News, Montford said: "I live in Scotland, and I have to travel to London quite often. If I want to take the train, I get on the first one in the morning, but I don't arrive in London until lunchtime.
"So, that's half the day gone. If I take the first flight, I'm in London by 9:00. So, yeah, that’s absolutely the only way of doing it.
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"The problem with high-speed rail is that it’s not really suited to the UK. We're a highly densely populated country, and high-speed rail needs to travel in straight lines, which just isn’t going to happen. So, the reality is that we’re stuck with airplanes here.
"The airplane service is very, very good in a way that the rail service isn’t. The railways tend to be quite unreliable.
"A lot can go wrong — if one train breaks down, it can cause a tailback. Whereas with airplanes, there are no such barriers.
"Again, it's this issue of the climate "religion," if you like, that says we’ve got to deal with airplanes. But the practical reality is that there isn’t actually an alternative.
"I just wish Ed Miliband would start dealing with reality, rather than this fairy tale of net zero. Because that is what’s really dragging the whole economy down and making him look like a hypocrite."
The spending figures have drawn particular attention as they come from a department focused on achieving Net Zero carbon emissions.
Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie highlighted what he called a contradiction in Labour's approach to environmental policy.
Ed Miliband has been accused of being a hypocrite
PA
"In opposition, Miliband was all too happy to lecture the rest of us — but now in Government, it's one rule for him and another for everyone else," Bowie said.
The Conservative MP further criticised Miliband as an "eco-zealot" who is "forcing the country to suffer under his sanctimonious eco agenda."
A spokesman for the energy department defended ministers and officials using domestic flights, adding: "Ministers and civil servants are required to travel for government business.
"While most journeys are by train, flights are sometimes necessary to ensure ministerial and officials’ time is used as efficiently as possible.”
