Latest news with #AllocationRound7
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
SNP warns Nigel Farage's renewable energy 'sabotage' will 'turn Aberdeen into Detroit'
Reform UK is opposing the renewables industry, despite almost 50,000 Scottish jobs reliant on the sector. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The SNP's Westminster leader has warned Nigel Farage's plans to 'sabotage' Scotland's renewable energy prospects will leave Aberdeen "looking like Detroit in 30 years' time'. The alarm comes after Reform UK, which is leading in several UK-wide polls, announced last week it would turn its back on the renewables sector and threatened to strip public subsidies for wind and solar projects. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Stephen Flynn of the SNP. Photo: Jonathan Hordle/ITV/PA Wire The move comes after Reform deputy leader, Richard Tice, used a visit to Scotland in March to claim his party would oppose 'net stupid zero' at next year's Holyrood election. The renewables sector is thought to support more than £15.5 billion of output, more than £6.6bn of GVA and more than 47,000 full time equivalent jobs across the Scottish economy. Mr Tice has written to energy companies urging them not to invest in the latest round of green energy contracts, known as Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He said he had put the companies on 'formal notice' that their investments were 'politically and commercially unsafe' as a future Reform government would seek to 'strike down all contracts signed under AR7'. The deputy leader added that net zero policies and subsidies are 'crippling our economy and driving people out of this country.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Deputy Leader Richard Tice (Picture:) In response, SNP Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, warned that Reform's energy and industrial strategy would leave his constituency of Aberdeen resembling Detroit in the United States, which has become a symbol of de-industrialisation and a ghost town after car and other manufacturers left the city. Mr Flynn said: 'The best way to take Nigel Farage on is to deal with the facts with him. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'To say to him, if you are going to come after Scotland's renewable energy sector, you are putting at risk tens of thousands of jobs - you're going to leave cities like mine looking like Detroit in 30 years' time rather than an expansive future-looking city that exports its skills and expertise across the globe. 'If he wants to sabotage our renewable future in order to play up to his own ideology and whilst doing so, he doesn't have to face any of the consequences for the decisions he's made in relation to collapsing the UK's economy with Brexit.' Mr Flynn has warned that Labour will need to address the impacts of Brexit if the UK government is to get the economy back on track and see off the electoral threat of Reform. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He said: 'Britain is broken. The public finances are in a mess and the politicians are at a loss as to how to get out of that particular mess. 'The guy who orchestrated it, doesn't have to face the consequences of the economic damage that Brexit has done to the UK. It has made us smaller and it has made us poorer.
Glasgow Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Labour accuses Reform of threatening almost one million jobs with net zero plans
Michael Shanks said Reform's opposition to net zero amounted to a 'war on jobs', saying working people 'would lose jobs and opportunities if Farage's party was ever allowed to impose its anti-jobs, anti-growth ideology on the country'. His comments come after Reform deputy leader Richard Tice wrote to energy companies urging them not to invest in the latest round of green energy contracts, known as Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Mr Tice said he had put the companies on 'formal notice' that their investments were 'politically and commercially unsafe' as a future Reform government would seek to 'strike down all contracts signed under AR7'. But he later told the BBC that Reform would not renege on contracts, only oppose any 'variation'. Michael Shanks described Reform's policies as an 'energy surrender plan' (Peter Byrne/PA) Mr Shanks called the letter an 'energy surrender plan that would leave bills high for families and businesses, keeping the UK stuck on the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets'. Labour also pointed to estimates from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which suggested the net zero sector now supported 951,000 jobs across the country. That figure includes almost 138,000 jobs in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber, areas where Reform has enjoyed electoral success including in this year's Greater Lincolnshire mayoral contest and Mr Tice's own Boston and Skegness constituency. Mr Tice said: 'Labour's reckless net zero fantasies are destroying hundreds of thousands of industrial jobs, costing taxpayers £12 billion a year in renewable subsidies, and leaving us with some of the highest energy bills in the world. 'The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) confirms that £30 billion of taxpayer money is being poured into net zero projects. These policies are crippling our economy and driving people out of this country.' In a report published last week, the OBR estimated tackling climate change would cost the Government £30 billion a year, largely in lost income from taxes such as fuel duty. But it also warned that failing to act presented a 'more significant fiscal cost' because of damage caused by climate change. Mr Shanks's intervention is the latest in a series of Labour attack lines against Reform, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer now regards as his real opponents. Reform has made opposition to net zero a major part of its platform since the last election. Earlier in the year Mr Tice pledged to 'wage war' on the policy while Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns told Times Radio on Thursday she did not believe climate change was real. But Labour believes this could be a weakness for Mr Farage's party, as polls indicate net zero continues to enjoy significant support. One survey conducted on behalf of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit ahead of the local elections in May found 54% of Reform voters backed 'policies to stop climate change'.
Rhyl Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
Labour accuses Reform of threatening almost one million jobs with net zero plans
Michael Shanks said Reform's opposition to net zero amounted to a 'war on jobs', saying working people 'would lose jobs and opportunities if Farage's party was ever allowed to impose its anti-jobs, anti-growth ideology on the country'. His comments come after Reform deputy leader Richard Tice wrote to energy companies urging them not to invest in the latest round of green energy contracts, known as Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Mr Tice said he had put the companies on 'formal notice' that their investments were 'politically and commercially unsafe' as a future Reform government would seek to 'strike down all contracts signed under AR7'. But he later told the BBC that Reform would not renege on contracts, only oppose any 'variation'. Mr Shanks called the letter an 'energy surrender plan that would leave bills high for families and businesses, keeping the UK stuck on the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets'. Labour also pointed to estimates from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which suggested the net zero sector now supported 951,000 jobs across the country. That figure includes almost 138,000 jobs in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber, areas where Reform has enjoyed electoral success including in this year's Greater Lincolnshire mayoral contest and Mr Tice's own Boston and Skegness constituency. Mr Tice said: 'Labour's reckless net zero fantasies are destroying hundreds of thousands of industrial jobs, costing taxpayers £12 billion a year in renewable subsidies, and leaving us with some of the highest energy bills in the world. 'The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) confirms that £30 billion of taxpayer money is being poured into net zero projects. These policies are crippling our economy and driving people out of this country.' In a report published last week, the OBR estimated tackling climate change would cost the Government £30 billion a year, largely in lost income from taxes such as fuel duty. But it also warned that failing to act presented a 'more significant fiscal cost' because of damage caused by climate change. Mr Shanks's intervention is the latest in a series of Labour attack lines against Reform, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer now regards as his real opponents. Reform has made opposition to net zero a major part of its platform since the last election. Earlier in the year Mr Tice pledged to 'wage war' on the policy while Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns told Times Radio on Thursday she did not believe climate change was real. But Labour believes this could be a weakness for Mr Farage's party, as polls indicate net zero continues to enjoy significant support. One survey conducted on behalf of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit ahead of the local elections in May found 54% of Reform voters backed 'policies to stop climate change'.
South Wales Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Labour accuses Reform of threatening almost one million jobs with net zero plans
Michael Shanks said Reform's opposition to net zero amounted to a 'war on jobs', saying working people 'would lose jobs and opportunities if Farage's party was ever allowed to impose its anti-jobs, anti-growth ideology on the country'. His comments come after Reform deputy leader Richard Tice wrote to energy companies urging them not to invest in the latest round of green energy contracts, known as Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Mr Tice said he had put the companies on 'formal notice' that their investments were 'politically and commercially unsafe' as a future Reform government would seek to 'strike down all contracts signed under AR7'. But he later told the BBC that Reform would not renege on contracts, only oppose any 'variation'. Mr Shanks called the letter an 'energy surrender plan that would leave bills high for families and businesses, keeping the UK stuck on the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets'. Labour also pointed to estimates from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which suggested the net zero sector now supported 951,000 jobs across the country. That figure includes almost 138,000 jobs in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber, areas where Reform has enjoyed electoral success including in this year's Greater Lincolnshire mayoral contest and Mr Tice's own Boston and Skegness constituency. Mr Tice said: 'Labour's reckless net zero fantasies are destroying hundreds of thousands of industrial jobs, costing taxpayers £12 billion a year in renewable subsidies, and leaving us with some of the highest energy bills in the world. 'The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) confirms that £30 billion of taxpayer money is being poured into net zero projects. These policies are crippling our economy and driving people out of this country.' In a report published last week, the OBR estimated tackling climate change would cost the Government £30 billion a year, largely in lost income from taxes such as fuel duty. But it also warned that failing to act presented a 'more significant fiscal cost' because of damage caused by climate change. Mr Shanks's intervention is the latest in a series of Labour attack lines against Reform, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer now regards as his real opponents. Reform has made opposition to net zero a major part of its platform since the last election. Earlier in the year Mr Tice pledged to 'wage war' on the policy while Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns told Times Radio on Thursday she did not believe climate change was real. But Labour believes this could be a weakness for Mr Farage's party, as polls indicate net zero continues to enjoy significant support. One survey conducted on behalf of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit ahead of the local elections in May found 54% of Reform voters backed 'policies to stop climate change'.
Powys County Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Powys County Times
Labour accuses Reform of threatening almost one million jobs with net zero plans
Reform UK's 'war' on net zero would cost almost one million jobs, the energy minister has claimed, as Labour steps up its attacks on Nigel Farage's party over green power. Michael Shanks said Reform's opposition to net zero amounted to a 'war on jobs', saying working people 'would lose jobs and opportunities if Farage's party was ever allowed to impose its anti-jobs, anti-growth ideology on the country'. His comments come after Reform deputy leader Richard Tice wrote to energy companies urging them not to invest in the latest round of green energy contracts, known as Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Mr Tice said he had put the companies on 'formal notice' that their investments were 'politically and commercially unsafe' as a future Reform government would seek to 'strike down all contracts signed under AR7'. But he later told the BBC that Reform would not renege on contracts, only oppose any 'variation'. Mr Shanks called the letter an 'energy surrender plan that would leave bills high for families and businesses, keeping the UK stuck on the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets'. Labour also pointed to estimates from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which suggested the net zero sector now supported 951,000 jobs across the country. That figure includes almost 138,000 jobs in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber, areas where Reform has enjoyed electoral success including in this year's Greater Lincolnshire mayoral contest and Mr Tice's own Boston and Skegness constituency. Mr Tice said: 'Labour's reckless net zero fantasies are destroying hundreds of thousands of industrial jobs, costing taxpayers £12 billion a year in renewable subsidies, and leaving us with some of the highest energy bills in the world. 'The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) confirms that £30 billion of taxpayer money is being poured into net zero projects. These policies are crippling our economy and driving people out of this country.' In a report published last week, the OBR estimated tackling climate change would cost the Government £30 billion a year, largely in lost income from taxes such as fuel duty. But it also warned that failing to act presented a 'more significant fiscal cost' because of damage caused by climate change. Mr Shanks's intervention is the latest in a series of Labour attack lines against Reform, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer now regards as his real opponents. Reform has made opposition to net zero a major part of its platform since the last election. Earlier in the year Mr Tice pledged to 'wage war' on the policy while Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns told Times Radio on Thursday she did not believe climate change was real. But Labour believes this could be a weakness for Mr Farage's party, as polls indicate net zero continues to enjoy significant support. One survey conducted on behalf of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit ahead of the local elections in May found 54% of Reform voters backed 'policies to stop climate change'.
