Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has said Labour’s plans on energy will push up prices for consumers and businesses and lead to blackouts.
Speaking on GB News, Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “Addressing an event at Kew Gardens today for the launch of the Labour Party's so called global clean power alliance, the foreign secretary said this: ‘Today I'm committing to you that while I am Foreign Secretary, action on the climate and nature crisis will be central to all that the Foreign Office does.’
“You may wonder why the Foreign Secretary is involving himself with global warming rather dealing with the nation's friends and enemies. Unfortunately, in a speech that droned on for about 40 minutes, this wasn't really made clear.
"However, his speech made three fundamental points. Here was the first: ‘We will build a global clean power alliance. This government has set a landmark goal to be the first major economy to deliver clean power by 2030.’
“Labour's absurd plans to decarbonise the grid by 2030 have been estimated to cost £100 billion more than the last government's merely foolish plan.
“The grid is already made hugely inefficient because of net zero. Instead of constantly running our gas power stations, we intermittently turn them on and off depending on whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.
“This process means suppliers charge higher rates for energy because of the unreliable supply available. These costs are passed on to consumers. That's you and businesses.
“But crucially, in five and a half years' time, there will be, as there is now, plenty of occasions when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. So if Labour wants fully to decarbonise the grid, what's it planned to do when there is no renewable energy being generated? The answer is blackouts.
“Next, the Foreign Secretary said this second: “Second, we must unlock much, much more climate and nature finance.’
“What a lovely word ‘unlock', carefully used. If he is referring to public money that means more taxes, you'll pay higher taxes.
“If he means private money, it presumes that the markets are interested in the net zero projects. But they're only interested in them with a high rate of return, which will fall on consumers making energy even more expensive.
“This was shown in the recent auction for onshore and offshore wind, where the prices were much higher than they are for continuous gas generation.
“Equally, consumers are not so easy to fool, as shown by electric car sales, which are falling short of targets, meaning suppliers are having to ration sales of petrol and diesel cars. Finally, the Foreign Secretary said this:
‘Third, we must not just halt but reverse the decline in biodiversity. So we are completely committed to ratifying the high seas treaty and securing agreement on a plastics treaty.’
“So the solution, as always with the socialists, is more cost and regulation. The economy is to be burdened and the consumer overcharged. Bear in mind, our electricity is already twice the price of that of the United States. This is all based on a doom laden view of the future, which seems to be becoming Labour's speciality.
‘The threat may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an imperialist autocrat, but it is more fundamental. It is systemic. It's pervasive and accelerating towards us at pace.’
“The Labour Party’s net zero plans are not only based on fallacy after fallacy, but they will destroy and weaken the British economy, force taxes up and make all of us, the British people, cold and poor.”
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