Farage claims ‘net zero madness’ is costing jobs – Daily Business

Nigel Farage today took aim at the “net zero madness” and accused the UK and Scottish governments of overseeing the unnecessary and serious decline of the oil and gas industry.

Speaking in Aberdeen, the Reform UK leader said the “super tax” of 75% imposed energy companies by the Conservative government was a “disaster” for the industry and Labour had only added to it by pushing it to 78% and stopping applications for new licences.

“2025 will be a year of record consumption of fossil fuels,” he said. “We can con ourselves as much as we like. There will be more coal burnt this year than has ever been burnt in the history of mankind, and the same applies to the use of oil and gas.

“Even the most ardent proponent of net zero has to accept that the world will still be using oil and gas up until 2050 and beyond, and yet we have decided to sacrifice this industry as a consensus around net aero has emerged.

“It isn’t net zero. All we are doing is exporting carbon dioxide production, and into the bargain we are seeing Scotland and many parts of England and Wales literally de-industrialising before our very eyes.

“Yes, there are arguments around new industries, but for every job created in the new industries many more have been lost in conventional industries.”

Mr Farage said all of this meant the UK now had the most expensive commercial energy prices in the world “and the whole thing is complete and utter madness”.

He noted that Norway champions its oil and gas industry and sells a lot of gas to the UK. It also has a 200 mile exclusive zone for fisheries. “Just imagine what that would do for townns and cities on the east coast of Scotland,” he said.

“Whichever way we look we are getting things wrong. They must be laughing themselves silly in Norway but now we have to import a significant amount of our electricity from them as well.

“The madness of this is almost completely and utterly beyond belief.”

Richard Tice, the former party leader, spoke alongside Mr Farage and said the reason electricity prices are so high in the UK is not just the link to wholesale gas prices, but “two-thirds of our electricity price is due to policy costs, levies, subsidies, transmission costs, constraint payments.. the actual wholesale cost is about 30-35%.”

Mr Farage, who also campaigned in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency ahead of this Thursday’s Holyrood by-election, said Reform UK was gaining ground in Scotland and announced that two councillors were joining the party.

Responding to media questions, he said he was opposed to carbon capture because he had not seen any evicence that it works “and if I do, I will change my mind”.

Asked about the future of renewables and those working in the industry under his plans, he said: “I don’t mind renewables if renewables work and can stand on their own two feet, that’s fantastic.

“But at the moment it can’t and never has done and it’s directly contributed to energy bills being the most expensive industrial energy in the world, which is disastrous throughout industry.

“So if renewables were to stand on their own two feet, good. But let’s not con ourselves. These wind turbines are not being made here, the solar panels are not being made here. I think there are some very serious questions.

“Going ahead, if we can make these renewable energies work, fine, and investment will continue into those areas.

“But, to make ourselves too reliant on intermittent energy would be a massive strategic mistake.”

On devolution , he said it was here to stay, but it was not working.

“The Barnett Formula seems to be somewhat out of date. What I’d like to see is a Scottish government that is able to raise a bit more of its own revenue and a Scottish economy that has actually got genuine growth and I don’t think that can happen without this sector [oil and gas] booming. … right now the economy is going in completely the wrong direction.

“Devolution is here to stay and in fact devolution is being extended into England. Sadly, over the course of the last 20 years devolution doesn’t appear to have worked very well. It doesn’t mean devolution is wrong, the people who are running it haven’t got it right.”

He refuted allegations that he was racist, saying his chairman was of Indian descent and that the party welcomed people of all races and lifestyles. He said the First Minister had used words that were “inciteful” but he would not engage in an exchange of words.

“We should be a colour blind and race blind as we can,” he said.

He became involved in a spat with a journalist from The Herald after accusing it of being party to a protest outside the restaurant where the press conference took place. The Herald denied any involvement.

See also:

Rig worker urges Farage to ‘shine a light’ on oil woes

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