“The government has lost the plot” in its pursuit of Net Zero targets, Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice has told the Telegraph, after Labour drew up plans to spend billions subsidising gas capacity and storage.
The government is considering using taxpayers’ money to pay gas companies to keep supplies and storage available when wind and solar cannot generate enough electricity. In effect, Labour is preparing to subsidise the gas backup needed to prevent blackouts when its heavily subsidised renewables fail to deliver.
“First they subsidise renewables heavily,” Tice said. “Then they realise the wind does not always blow nor the sun always shine and we have huge blackout risk.
“So now they subsidise gas to billions of pounds to act as backup. The result is households being fleeced by vast subsidies to investors who cannot believe their luck.”
A government report has warned that Britain could begin running short of gas from the beginning of the next decade. Ministers are considering taxpayer-funded support for gas storage operators and pipeline importers, alongside new storage facilities that could cost billions over 25 years.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Tice said: “The confusion around all of this is total and you cannot sit on the fence and have the best of both worlds.”
Instead of forcing families to pay for unreliable renewables and the fossil-fuel backup they require, a Reform government would put cheap, dependable British energy first.
“We’ve got lots of gas in the North Sea and indeed onshore gas,” Tice said, “and we should be using that and promoting it.”
The government is considering using taxpayers’ money to pay gas companies to keep supplies and storage available when wind and solar cannot generate enough electricity. In effect, Labour is preparing to subsidise the gas backup needed to prevent blackouts when its heavily subsidised renewables fail to deliver.
“First they subsidise renewables heavily,” Tice said. “Then they realise the wind does not always blow nor the sun always shine and we have huge blackout risk.
“So now they subsidise gas to billions of pounds to act as backup. The result is households being fleeced by vast subsidies to investors who cannot believe their luck.”
A government report has warned that Britain could begin running short of gas from the beginning of the next decade. Ministers are considering taxpayer-funded support for gas storage operators and pipeline importers, alongside new storage facilities that could cost billions over 25 years.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Tice said: “The confusion around all of this is total and you cannot sit on the fence and have the best of both worlds.”
Instead of forcing families to pay for unreliable renewables and the fossil-fuel backup they require, a Reform government would put cheap, dependable British energy first.
“We’ve got lots of gas in the North Sea and indeed onshore gas,” Tice said, “and we should be using that and promoting it.”
