Reeves has set a high benchmark for ineptness. She has wreaked havoc by scrapping the winter fuel payment for 10million pensioners, “shafting” British farmers in the Budget and destroying businesses and jobs with her employer national insurance raid.
But that’s nothing compared to what Labour’s new energy secretary is plotting.
As I’ve written before, Red Ed is a man on a mission. Not just any mission but a “A Clean Energy Superpower Mission”, as looks to make the UK a world leader in the green transition.
By switching from fossil fuels to renewables at a pace that can only be described as unsustainable, he’s likely to do the reverse of what he hopes.
Instead of inspiring the world to move towards cleaner, greener energy, he’s more likely to terrify them into clinging onto oil and gas for as long as they possibly can.
Miliband is naturally accident prone. We saw that last week, when he declared premature success for his plan to build a UK electricity system based on renewables, nuclear and other clean energy technologies.
He claimed a new report by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) proved that clean power by 2030 was achievable, bragging that his critics “were wrong, we were right”.
That struck me as a very odd thing to say given that this isn’t 2030 but 2024, and at this point nothing is proven either way.
It’s worth pointing out that Neso isn’t an independent body. It’s owned by the government. In fact, Miliband actually commissioned the report then spun its conclusions.
Pre-Miliband Neso analysis, published in 2020, put the cost of transitioning to clean energy at almost £3 trillion. Which is more than the UK’s entire annual economic output. Where’s the money coming from?
Reeves is misguided, but Miliband is plain deluded.
I first suspected he’d lost touch with reality when I saw a video of him swinging a ukulele and serenading some innocent wind turbines with the Bob Dylan’s classic Blowin’ in the wind.
When I realised he’d actually posted that video himself, I was sure of it.
Miliband is right about one thing. Britain is hooked on fossil fuels imported from countries controlled by dictators such as Vladimir Putin and this leaves the UK vulnerable to energy price spikes.
The problem is that in his mad rush to sort this out he’s ignoring some harsh realities that could leave us even vulnerable to rocketing prices and even power cuts.
Most astonishing of all, while Miliband was raving about successes he hasn’t even started to deliver, an embarrassing thing was happening.
Britain was caught up in so-called Dunkelflaute. The phenomenon which translates as “dark wind lull” and describes periods when wind speeds plunge, leading to little to no generation from turbines.
It meant that wind farms could barely produce 4% of the UK’s total electricity during peak periods, with gas-fired plants cranked up to cover 60% of demand.
And Miliband is aiming for 100% renewables by in just six years’ time!
To achieve this, Miliband needs to double onshore wind capacity, triple offshore wind and quadruple solar power in that time.
We’d also need to build more than 600 miles of new power lines at a time when Labour is pretending it can build 1.5 million homes as well.
Where are the workers coming from?
Producing a steady supply of low carbon power all the time, even when the wind isn’t blowing and sun isn’t shining, is a major technical challenge.
In his fanatical urge to get things done, Miliband is glossing over the challenges.
At the same time, he is doing something almost no other country in the world is doing. Turning down licences for new oil and gas fields.
This will leave us more dependent on foreign energy imports, often from countries producing dirtier fuel with higher carbon emissions than us.
Plus it will deprive the Treasury of billions of pounds worth of tax revenues.
Miliband’s 2030 dream is doomed to failure. He will leave a legacy of blighted countryside, ruined by pylons, turbines and solar farms plastered over once productive farmland.
If the lights go out, voters will never forgive Labour. Miliband could single-handedly lose the next election. Given the party’s huge majority, only one man can stop him. Step forward Keir Starmer. Unless he’s lost touch with reality, too.
