Achieving net zero is “impossible” and will bankrupt Britain, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will say in a landmark policy speech later today.
Badenoch is expected to accuse her own party of enshrining net zero in law without a proper plan – and is set to warn that laws in place at the moment could cause a “serious drop in our living standards”.
She will label the net zero target itself “fiction” and promise to tell the “unvarnished truth” about it to voters, The Telegraph reports.
“Net zero by 2050 is impossible,” Badenoch will say. “I don’t say that with pleasure, or because I have some ideological desire to dismantle it.
“In fact, we must do what we can to improve our natural world.
“Anyone who has done any serious analysis knows it can’t be achieved without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us.
“And responsible leaders don’t indulge in fictions which are going to make families poorer, or mortgage their children’s future – particularly without the rest of the world doing the same – making our country less safe, less secure and less resilient.”
Alongside her speech, the Conservative leader will launch a full-scale party policy review – with each member of the shadow cabinet responsible for a review of their policy areas, with instructions to “rewrite the rules of the game” and consider “every aspect of what the state does and why it does it”.
“We need to be honest with the public, who think that Labour have a plausible plan,” she will say. “They do not. We have to do better than this, and that’s why today, as part of our policy renewal, we are going to do something that Labour failed to do when in opposition – and explains why they are floundering so badly now.
“We are going to deal with the reality, answer the real questions [and] confront the real problems.”
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Richard Tice left fuming after Tories ‘copy Reform policy’ – ‘Look how they betrayed us before!’
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice has accused the Tories of copying his party’s policy
PA
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice has accused the Tories of copying his party’s policy in a furious attack on Kemi Badenoch’s net zero pledge this morning.
Tice, writing on social media, said: “Another day, another major Reform UK policy adopted by Tory or Labour. We are having a huge impact.”
Then a few minutes later, he added: “Tories copy Reform policy again… But can you trust them? Look how they betrayed us all before.”
EXCLUSIVE: Net zero chief pockets equivalent of £255K annual salary as taxpayers pick up ‘limitless’ tab for ‘pointless endeavour’
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government is hiring a new low carbon chief on an advertised salary equivalent to £255,000 – significantly more the Prime Minister’s.
The successful applicant, who would serve as Chair of the Low Carbon Contracts Company, is sponsored by Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and would earn £986 per day to work two days a week, the Government’s own website says.
The remuneration would amount to £102,500 across the year, equivalent to a full-time salary of £255,000, significantly more than Starmer’s £172,153 pay packet.
And following the reveal, senior net zero critics have reacted with fury.
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