Keir Starmer to slap nation with double whammy Net Zero tax as households reel from energy crisis

The People's Channel has now learned a second levy, known as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), will specifically target imports, making them more expensive to businesses and consumers alike.

With households already facing soaring fuel costs in response to the Iran war, Reform UK’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice has branded the decision to align Britain to the EU’s higher carbon tax regime a “disaster”.

He told the People's Channel: “Ed Miliband’s Net Mad Zero policies are bad enough, but to align with the EU’s even higher carbon tax regime will be a disaster.

“The Government must do another U-turn on its crazy policy to sign up to EU taxes over which we’ll have no control. The country simply can’t afford to indulge in Ed Miliband’s insane ideological obsession any longer.”

Second Net Zero tax - Government continues to keep its EU negotiations as secret as possible

In today’s report, GB News reveals the next step for the Government, which is to align with the EU’s taxes on imported goods. This second Net Zero tax is known as CBAM, or the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and it is used specifically to target imports, making them more expensive to businesses and consumers alike.

With Britons' energy costs only going in one direction – up – it seems the Government is nevertheless pressing on with its alignment with both of the EU’s much higher carbon tax systems. With the Iran war still raging, this will have only one effect – another hike in energy bills and the cost of doing business, and a devastating effect on what is left of the UK’s rapidly closing industrial base. It will also hit consumers in the higher prices they will see on imported goods.

The Rt Hon Lord Redwood was equally scathing, telling the People's Channel: “Dear energy is a killer. This is part of a package of measures that lumbers us with energy so dear we cannot make things for ourselves.

“We have seen a catastrophic deindustrialisation, which has gathered huge pace and momentum in the last two years with the intensification of the net-zero policies this Government have welcomed and introduced.

“For the Government to be pressing on as fast as possible towards alignment with the EU’s even higher carbon taxes will destroy what’s left of British industry and jobs.”

This is all happening while Energy Secretary Ed Miliband sticks to his extreme position on the UK not using the country’s massive reserves of oil and gas from the North Sea, which could make the UK self-sufficient in energy. Imported energy such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) brought in on tankers will have new EU import taxes imposed on it, in the Government’s rush to please the EU by aligning with its new carbon tax import tariffs.

The UK’s carbon taxes versus the EU’s – How alignment will make energy even more costly

As GB News showed on Tuesday, the Government is already aligning the UK’s domestic carbon tax system with that of the EU. This will only increase our carbon taxes still higher than they have already become – all on the altar of Net Zero.

This domestic "Emissions Trading Scheme" (ETS) affects the general public and everyday bills, as well as the costs on industry, jobs, and the UK’s low and teetering growth.

Lord Redwood recently drove the point home by listing a wide variety of companies making closures and laying people off, giving many details.

It is indicative his list is too lengthy to republish, but it included many famous names closing or cutting back.

For example, two large refineries at Grangemouth and Lindsey, the Royal Staffordshire and Moorcroft ceramics factories, Johnsons Tiles, Nippon Electric, Dunbar Cement, the Birtley aluminium extrusion plant, three aluminium door and window manufacturers, and the Port Talbot blast furnaces and the furnaces at Scunthorpe were only saved by ministers stepping in.

How much will the import taxes (CBAM) be for the UK and the EU?

The simple answer is that the UK does not yet know, as the UK's import tax system CBAM is supposedly not being applied until January 1, 2027. However, it seems that CBAM rates will be based on the rates on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which applies to domestic businesses.

If this is the case, then the UK can expect any alignment with the EU's CBAM system to reflect the bloc's higher costs for its ETS.

The other problem with CBAM is it is a new import tax. This will impact every trade deal the UK has done with other countries, including the United States. The UK Government and the EU criticised President Donald Trump’s proposed new tariffs, yet here they are proposing big tariffs on US imports and imports from most of the rest of the world.

It can only be imagined how Mr Trump is going to react to that.

But any alignment with the EU on import taxes could bring down a great many UK trade deals.

The UK now has trade agreements with more than 100 countries, including the EU. Excluding the EU27, many of these countries will find any new carbon tax on imports imposed by the UK will negate the agreements they have signed. This will once again make the UK dependent on the trade deals negotiated by the EU – something the Commission has shown itself to be remarkably bad at doing.

Whilst Chancellor Rachel Reeves talks of needing the EU for growth, it is very hard to see how anything other than the opposite will be the case.

EU’s cost per tonne of CO2 is consistently set higher than the UK's. The standard measure across the world for carbon taxes is for one tonne of CO2 equivalent. This is CO2 or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases. Countries set a cost for this, which can then vary at auction. Below we show the set cost for the EU and the UK for 2025 for its domestic 'Emissions Trading Schemes'. This is the latest data shown on the World Bank’s comparison site.

GB News understands CBAM rates for imported goods are likely to mirror domestic ETS rates as much as possible. What follows is therefore a good overall indicator.

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