Lord Frost calls for Bank of England climate role to go
The former chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost has welcomed a Parliamentary report that called for the Bank of England to lose its remit to fight climate change.
The report, from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, was published on Monday, and noted that numerous witnesses had expressed concern over the addition of irrelevant roles to the Bank’s workload. Many witnesses said the climate remit, in particular, was problematic, suggesting that it risked “jeopardising the Bank’s ability to prioritise its primary objectives”.
Last week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt deprioritised global warming in the Bank’s work programme, but the new report has increased pressure for its wholesale removal.
The climate-change role was added to the Bank’s remit in 2021 by the then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak.
Lord Frost said:
"It's obvious that effective central banks should concentrate on their core objectives of avoiding inflation and ensuring financial stability. Requiring them to promote the economy-crushing net zero programme just makes it harder for them to focus on these primary tasks and more likely we will see more of the policy mistakes that have been so evident in the last couple of years."
Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:
With Andrew Bailey saying the outlook for the economy is the worst he has ever seen, it’s vital that the machinery of Government has a laser focus on growth. We can no longer afford distractions like Net Zero.
Net Zero Watch has criticised the Bank of England for its fatally flawed 'climate stress test' report which used false data and discredited scenarios.
Notes for editors
- Economic Affairs Committee report at https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/42289/documents/210238/default/
- Andrew Bailey comments at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/11/27/britain-growth-outlook-worst-ever-andrew-bailey-bank/
- Net Zero watch criticism of Bank of England stress tests at https://www.netzerowatch.com/bank-of-england-used-false-data-and-discredited-scenarios-to-exaggerate-climate-costs/