Keir Starmer has been left bruised after he failed to sack Ed Miliband in his recent government reshuffle, prompting mockery on social media. ITV’s Robert Peston revealed that Sir Keir tried moving Mr Miliband away from his Net Zero portfolio and into Angela Rayner’s former housing ministry, suggesting he does not have faith in the former Labour leader to do the job.
Mr Miliband reportedly “refused” to leave the job, prompting a delay to the reshuffle as Sir Keir scrambled to rework his planned moves. Mr Peston said: “The one bit of the reshuffle that did not go Keir Starmer’s way is he very much wanted to move Ed Miliband to Angela Rayner’s brief of housing and communities, and Ed Miliband dug in and said ‘no [I] want to continue with the energy and climate change brief’.”
The Tories quipped: “Keir Starmer is so weak he couldn’t even sack Ed Miliband as Energy Secretary.”
The campaign group Net Zero Watch added: “Starmer will regret letting Miliband refuse to leave as his Net Zero policies continue to make Brits poorer and colder.”
The attempt sacking of Mr Miliband raises questions about the PM’s energy policies, and whether he’s still committed to his previous pledges.
Sir Keir is reportedly wanting to push his climate pledges down the priority list as he attempts to secure economic growth.
Steve Reed, the new Housing Secretary, will be tasked with looking to ditch some environmental regulations in a new push to increase housebuilding rates.
This shift in focus stands in stark contrast to Mr Miliband’s agenda, who has been pushing for his fellow Cabinet ministers to make greater headway in reducing climate emissions.
Sir Keir has already clashed with Mr Miliband over proposals for a massive data centre in Teesside, with the latter voicing opposition due to concerns over energy and water consumption.
A Government insider warned: “There’s a tension between net zero and driving growth, so you’re drawing them under one portfolio and saying business comes first.
“Keir has put reformers in key departments to tear down barriers and unleash the economy’s potential. Growth is how we’re going to make people better off. That’s the priority of this government and what this new team will be getting on with.”
It is still government policy to get the UK’s electricity system to be 95% clean by 2030, despite widespread warnings about cost and achievability in that short time frame. Both Reform UK and the Tories have now come out against Net Zero, arguing it is both unaffordable and will harm Britons.
Nigel Farage warned that Net Zero could become the “new Brexit”, asking: “Why would you export manufacturing and then re-import the goods? All you’ve done is you’ve exported CO2 emissions and actually added to them in many cases.
“The lunacy of this. This could be the next Brexit – where Parliament is so hopelessly out of touch with the country.”