27 March 2026

Labour MPs demand a rethink on Net Zero

The headlines

UK

• Up to 40 Labour MPs write to Starmer demanding the party waters down its Net Zero commitments

• Labour MP: Net Zero is impoverishing families

• Starmer: it is up to Ed Miliband whether we drill in the North Sea

• New polling shows Brits back the North Sea

• Centrica calls for more drilling in the North Sea

International

• Japan is set to greenlight emergency coal power stations

• Energy infrastructure emerges as binding constraint on US rearmament

Watch

• Iran and Net Zero’s impact on the UK economy

• Miliband’s £800k COP hypocrisy

Etcetera

• Media, opinion

From the blog

• Scotland’s energy crisis

UK

Up to 40 Labour MPs write to Starmer demanding the party waters down its Net Zero commitments

Dozens of Labour MPs have written to Sir Keir Starmer and three Cabinet members demanding the Government looks at watering down its Net Zero commitment to drive sales of electric vehicles amid fears UK carmakers might have to shed jobs.

Labour MP: Net Zero is impoverishing families

Labour MP Henry Tufnell warns Miliband’s Net Zero dash is “impoverishing” families and demands we scrap the North Sea drilling ban. “The Labour Party is the party of industry and the unions. We were created in the fire of the industrial revolution. Now is the time to act like it,” he says.

Starmer: it is up to Ed Miliband whether we drill in the North Sea

Sir Keir Starmer has said it is Ed Miliband’s decision whether Britain drills for oil and gas in the North Sea. The Prime Minister claimed he had no power to approve more licences and insisted that the final call lay with the Energy Secretary.

READ THIS INSIGHTFUL PROFILE OF ED MILIBAND BY WILL LLOYD FOR THE NEW STATESMAN

New polling shows Brits back the North Sea

New polling shows 76% of the public believe the UK should continue producing its own oil and gas due to global instability, while 74% agreed the country should produce as much as possible rather than rely on imports.

Centrica calls for more drilling in the North Sea

The head of British Gas has called on the Government to drop its ban on exploiting untapped oil and gas fields in the North Sea, saying the move would help ease spiralling energy costs. Asked if increasing North Sea flows would help to lower bills, Mr O’Shea told the BBC it would be sufficient to “make a difference across Europe.”

International

Japan is set to greenlight emergency coal power stations

As an emergency measure in response to the turmoil in the Middle East, the Japanese government will lift restrictions on the operation of coal-fired power plants. Older facilities, whose operations had been restricted to reduce CO2 emissions, will be put back into service to increase the proportion of coal-fired power generation, which does not depend on the Middle East like oil or LNG and to ensure a stable power supply.

Energy infrastructure emerges as binding constraint on US rearmament

Analysts at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) warn that energy infrastructure is emerging as a binding constraint on defence production. They argue that the issue is not total supply, but whether reliable firm power can be delivered to the right places at the right time, with grid bottlenecks and capacity limits threatening to slow rearmament.

Watch

WATCH MAURICE COUSINS DISCUSS THE IMPACT OF THE IRAN WAR AND NET ZERO ON THE UK’S ECONOMY

WATCH OUR CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR DISCUSS MILIBAND’S £800K JET-SETTING HYPOCRISY AT COP

Etcetera…

Read: Matthew Lynn writes that the Iran crisis gives the greens in the Labour exactly what they want.

Read: Dieter Helm writes what the response to the UK industrial energy crisis should be.

From the blog

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