“Reform UK’s latest policy on renewables is certainly lacking in energy”

When the right-wing party isn’t extolling the tactics of Trump & Co, or injecting venom into the never-ending immigration debate, they occasionally turn their hand to actual policy-devising instead. 

As part of their continuing war against Net Zero, Reform would levy a windfall tax on renewable-generated power, as well as a new ‘solar farms tax’ for those farmers taking the renewables subsidy. Tice, the party Deputy, suggested that these ‘generation taxes’ and ‘special corporation taxes’ would return money after years of government funding for sustainable energy. Sounding counterintuitive yet?

For a party constantly purporting themselves to be a buttress-in-waiting for the free market, further energy taxes would’ve been low on the list for any prospective right-wing voter. Indeed, they have received poor feedback for their latest government wishlist, with one reply on Twitter querying if Rupert Lowe (Reform’s spokesman for Business/Agriculture) would be paying the proposed energy levies for his own solar farm. Yes - Reform’s own popular hero of the countryside has investments in renewable energy. Farcical. 

It all sounds rather backwards. Levies on resource generation, bans on battery energy storage systems, and legislation on the grid to force them to keep cables underground - it all sounds a bit nanny state, doesn’t it? This is the party that has cried ‘authoritarian state’ at every move of Starmer’s government - yet their first attempt at formulating plans to keep Britain’s burgeoning fuel bills down only entails more state intervention.

Such plans to transfer the energy tax burden to renewables are about half a century too early. Such crosshairs would be better suited to current gas production, or better still, stowing the crosshairs away! According to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, average US energy bills are £1420 per annum, to the UK’s £1740 (based on an exchange rate of 1.25). Starmer’s administration intends to create ‘GB Energy’, which (no doubt you’ve heard this already) would be publicly owned, and come with the ubiquitous promise of lowering bills for everyone through domestic farming of renewables.

Whilst a step in the right direction, many are naturally sceptical of whether this would make any returns for the public purse in the next four-and-a-half years remaining for this labour government. As such, the short-term solution to reduce the glaring disparity in energy bill burden between the UK and America, and make pursuits towards Net Zero would be a multi-faceted approach.

Unleash new contracts for mining in the North Sea. Yes, this seems counter-intuitive after all that’s said, yet it is a reality that we draw just over a quarter of our energy from gas, for the time being. Best we continue to extract it locally, rather than outsourcing to Russia, or the States. Then, instead of penalising renewable sources, tax relief awards would have production surpass the rough 50% at which they currently contribute to the UK energy supply. As renewables continue to phase out fossil fuels, and the North Sea nears depletion, the tax burden could incrementally be transferred to such industries. Contrary to what the policymakers at Reform UK would propose, which would damage a vital sector for the future, and install further threats to British innovation and production. Frankly, these two key factors for energy security are an endangered species in a political environment of hot air, smokescreens and misdirected energy.