21 March 2025

The end of the consensus

The headlines

UK

• Kemi kills the consensus

• Subsidies without cease

• Hybrid ban relaxed

• More Miliband madness

• More jobs to go in Aberdeen

International

• Japanese banks head for the door

• EU economic bloodbath

• Greenpeace bust

• Trump goes for coal

Etcetera

From the blog

• Is cleaner air responsible for recent global warming?

UK

Kemi kills the consensus

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch announced a series of policy commissions that would determine the party’s direction up to the next election. The first will focus on Net Zero, something which Ms Badenoch said was impossible to achieve by 2050. This appears to bring the cross-party consensus on decarbonisation to a very welcome end.

Commentary was heavy:

• Allison Pearson: Kemi Badenoch has won a battle against the Tory eco fanatics – but the war is far from over

• Peter Lilley: Kemi Badenoch has just blown the net zero myth wide open

• The Times View: Kemi Badenoch has been a blast of fresh air On Net Zero

• Telegraph View: Kudos To Kemi: Conservatives must be realistic about Net Zero

• The Sun: Britain’s Net Zero target by 2050 makes us ‘dangerously dependent’ on China, warns Kemi Badenoch

• BBC: Net zero by 2050 'impossible' for UK, says Badenoch

• GB News: Net zero is 'impossible' and will 'bankrupt' Britain, Kemi Badenoch warns in ruthless swipe at Tory predecessors:

Subsidies without cease

GB News reported that UK consumers are now forking out £12 billion per year in supporting renewables, more than £400 per household. Since greenery started, we have forked out astonishing sums, as the chart below shows.

Hybrid ban relaxed

The Government appears to be about to relax the ban on hybrid cars, due to come into force in 2030.

More Miliband madness

Ed Miliband said that the Conservative retreat from Net Zero would leave the country beholden to ‘dictators’, a strange collective term for the Norwegians and Americans who supply most of our fossil fuel needs. It was also a strange accusation for Mr Miliband to make while sucking up to the Chinese in Beijing.

With the economy tanking, and vast spending cuts on the horizon, Mr Miliband announced that GB Energy would spend £200 million putting solar panels on school and hospital roofs and that its soon-to-be appointed CEO could earn up to half a million pounds per year.

The UK’s economic bloodbath

Energy services firm Hunting announced plans to shed jobs in Aberdeen, saying Labour policy had ‘a massive impact’ on the decision. Green energy firm Ripple Energy is said to be on the verge of going bust.

International

Japanese banks head for the door

Major Japanese banks look to be following the lead of their US counterparts, by exiting the Net Zero Banking Alliance. The Alliance tried to stem the tide by proposing changes to its rules for members.

EU economic bloodbath

Northvolt, the EU’s battery manufacturing champion, went into administration, ending several months of anticipation. Green energy generator RWE announced plans to slash investment, and there were thousands of job losses at Audi, bringing the total lost across the VW group to 48,000.

Greenpeace bust

Greenpeace was ordered to pay more than $660m for defaming Texas-based Energy Transfer. The sum is large enough to push the activists into bankruptcy. Without any apparent irony, they accused the company of ‘using the legal system to silence critics’.

Trump goes for coal

Donald Trump signalled that the US would return to coal-fired power.

Etcetera…

Baroness Foster told the House of Lords that Net Zero would kill the economy.

Andrew was on GB News debating why electricity prices have gone up, and Harry Wilkinson was interviewed on the same subject.

David Turver noted a strange lack of activity at the Climate Change Committee in recent months.

Andrew was quoted in the European Conservative in an article on the green travails of the SNP administration in Scotland.

From the blog

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