Photo: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, Number 10 via Wikimedia Commons
Voters head to the polls today for local elections which are seen as a perfect opportunity for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to show its worth as a rising political force.
Terrible timing then, so far as Keir Starmer is concerned, for former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair to blast the current government’s net zero agenda as “irrational” because voters are being asked—or, in many cases, forced—to make serious sacrifices despite making “minimal” differences to the planet.
A report from Blair’s institute was received furiously by Labour, with local officials saying they were “incredibly p****d off” about the impact it could have on the local elections. One party source also bashed the ex-PM’s “public tantrum” as “really unhelpful.” The story splashed on most national newspapers on Wednesday.
The row got worse after Environment Secretary Steve Reed praised Blair for making a “valid and important contribution,” adding that he agreed “with much of what he said.” And senior officials later refused to guarantee that Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband will keep his job.
Farage was, of course, delighted by the very public row, hailing on social media:
Even Tony Blair now says the push for net zero has become “irrational” and “hysterical.”
We are winning the argument!
The Reform leader believes net zero could be the new Brexit, “where parliament is so hopelessly out of touch with the country.”
The Tony Blair Institute report said that simply limiting fossil fuels was “doomed to fail” and pushed for a different approach.
By the time Blair U-turned, attempting to paint Starmer’s approach as “the right one,” the damage had already been done. The green agenda’s role in this week’s major blackouts across the Iberian Peninsula will also have helped to paint a picture of just how dangerous the road to net zero is.
Not that Blair is guilt-free on this front, nor that his institute’s report is not still wedded to the view that Europe must act to avoid a climate emergency. Perhaps, as Net Zero Watch’s Andrew Montford suggested, he is simply trying to “remain on the right side of history.”
A total of 1,641 council seats are up for grabs today in 23 local authorities in England. Polling stations will close at 10 p.m.