27th February 2026

Green Peril

The headlines

UK

• Green Party wins Gorton and Denton by-election

• Miliband: North Sea drilling will not bring down bills

• Scottish government calls on Reeves to axe North Sea tax

• Ex-NATO chief: Miliband’s Net Zero drive puts Britain at risk of Russian attack

International

• Germany abandons renewables mandate

• UEFA ditches Net Zero by 2040 strategy

• Denmarks plans to drill until 2050

Watch

• Tice and Farage attack Miliband pushing up the cost of electricity

• Kathryn Porter warns about the risk of blackouts before 2030

• Ex-MI6 boss: Polanksi is a danger to UK national security

Etcetera

• Media, opinion

Events

• Edinburgh event coming soon

From the blog

• Ed Miliband must publish his secret energy deal.

UK

Green party wins Gorton and Denton by-election

The Green Party has won the Gorton and Denton by-election, with Hannah Spencer taking the seat from Labour in the Greens' first ever Westminster by-election victory. Green leader Zack Polanski told BBC Breakfast Gorton and Denton was only his party's 127th target seat and the victory showed "there's no no-go areas for the Green Party".

Miliband: North Sea drilling will not bring down bills

Ed Miliband has told the BBC that ramping up efforts to extract oil and gas from UK waters would “make no difference” to household energy costs, stressing that anyone who believes this is “100pc wrong”.

Scottish government tells Reevs to axe North Sea tax

Scottish Energy Secretary Gillian Martin MSP has urged the UK Government to scrap the controversial Energy Profits Levy, warning it is “driving an accelerated decline in North Sea oil and gas”

Ex-NATO chief: Miliband’s Net Zero drive puts Britain at risk of Russian attack

Labour’s “hellbent” desire to hit net zero risks leaving Britain’s energy industry vulnerable to Russian attack, according to General Sir Richard Shirreff.

International

Germany scraps renewables mandate

Germany’s coalition government has been accused of abandoning its climate targets after agreeing to scrap parts of a contentious heating law mandating the use of renewables.  

UEFA ditches its 2040 Net Zero strategy

The death of Net Zero continues as UEFA have scrapped its explicit mention of achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040 from its latest sustainability strategy.

Denmark plans to drill until 2050

Denmark announced plans to extend oil and gas production by a decade, warning that the original targets could undermine Europe’s energy security. The shift in policy makes a stark contrast to the UK, where Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, refuses to relax his net zero ban on new oil and gas exploration or the 78pc tax imposed on offshore profits.

Watch

WATCH RICHARD TICE AND NIGEL SLAM ED MILIBAND FOR MAKING THE COST OF ELECTRICITY MORE EXPENSIVE AND RE-COMMITTING THE PARTY RIP-UP AR7 CONTRACTS.

WATCH KATHRYN PORTER WARN ABOUT THE RISK OF BLACKOUTS BY 2030.

WATCH FORMER HEAD OF MI6, RICHARD DEARLOVE, DESCRIBE ZACH POLANSKI AS A THREAT TO UK NATIONAL SECRURTIY.

Etcetera…

Read: Bloomberg’s Javier Blas says Net Zero is dead.

Read: Ed West writes for The Spectator how the Green Party has moved away from environment-focused campaigning and instead mobilised voters around identity issues.

Edinburgh event coming

Net Zero Watch is going to be hosting a private event in Edinburgh ahead of the Scottish elections. NZW donors in the Central Belt should look out for an invitation next week. Please let us know if you don’t receive one. If you are in Edinburgh and would like to come along, do drop us a message too, but we can’t promise anything at the moment.

From the blog

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