By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2025-03-20 19:13:51 | Updated at 2025-03-21 10:32:53
15 hours ago
The Labour Government has been warned that their current policies on net zero are "illogical" and "costly" to Britons, as former CEO of Energy UK Angela Knight urged them to implement a more "sensible" structure.
A never before published Whitehall assessment of the effects of net zero on the British economy has been leaked to The Sun newspaper, with the document warning that poor planning for going carbon neutral by 2050 comes with the potential risk of "destabilising the entire financial system".
The document concluded that current net zero targets could wipe an incredible 10 per cent of the entire economy by the end of the decade, and even trigger another financial crash.
Speaking to GB News, former CEO of Energy UK Angela Knight encouraged the Government to publish the leaked document, as it will spark discussion on how they can "move forward" with policy on climate change.
Keir Starmer has been urged to switch to a less 'illogical' net zero plan
PA / GB News
Knight told GB News: "I think the first thing that Government must do is publish the report, because this is a leak. Let's have it published properly so we can discuss it and actually talk about what is sensible and what is the way forward.
"First of all, we're shutting down our cheap forms of electricity generation. Secondly, we're moving away from gas as well, so that means we need a lot more power stations.
"Thirdly, the so-called power stations were building are in fact wind farms. And fourthly, we've got to do something about that backup because the wind doesn't blow all the time."
Highlighting the sheer cost of the Government's efforts to reach net zero, Knight warned that it doesn't amount to "just a few million", it is more than "£60billion".
Net zero is 'impossible' and will 'bankrupt' Britain, Kemi Badenoch has warned
PA
Knight explained: "We've got to shift the grid, and if you boil all that together it's not just a few billion, it's £60, £70billion. And we're just not doing it. We're building the wind farms, we're not sorting the grid out - we're not sorting the backup.
"We shut down the coal, we're pouring a fortune into a wood fired power station, which is daft. And as for reasons completely unknown, we can bring the gas we need in from Qatar, but we're stopping it coming out of the North Sea.
"So the policy itself is illogical at the moment, and the cost of that policy is big."
Noting how she is in "favour of using renewables", Knight argued that they must be at a "sensible rate" and one that is "affordable" for British people.
Knight told GB News that the cost of the Government's current plans are around £60billion
GB News
Knight concluded: "I'm in favour of using renewables as well, I'm not against this at all. What I favour is doing a logical program of change over a sensible period of time, at a price that is affordable.
"And as part of that, making sure that we do not penalise industry, do away with the current wave, which is complicated, of calculating the wholesale price of electricity, which always means our electricity is priced up. And that is why our industry is paying between twice and four times more than competitor countries."
She added: "That's another form of madness, because all that's going to happen is our industries will incrementally close down the big pharmaceuticals, for example, the petrochemicals, but of course we need it.
"So let's just do this change in a sensible, well structured, well ordered, well engineered and properly priced manner."
