Miliband’s energy plans will hike bills
1 October 2025
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Economics
29 September 2025
Energy and Environment
2 October 2025
Society and Culture
Responding to the Ed Miliband’s speech at Labour Party Conference, Andy Mayer, Energy Analyst at the free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“The UK is a net importer of oil and gas and will continue to use these resources for energy for many decades to come.
“Banning the extraction of our own reserves or techniques like fracking doesn’t change that; it just makes their consumption more expensive and polluting. Encouraging union militancy in wind farms doesn’t change that; it just increases the cost of alternatives.
“The UK already has the most expensive industrial energy in the developed world and the second-highest domestic energy prices. Ed Miliband once stood on a platform attacking the ‘cost of living crisis’ when energy bills were half what they are today. He now wants to deliver that by sleight of hand, moving policy costs from bills to taxes.
“But this will change none of the fundamentals, bar raising the cost of Government borrowing. This in turn will raise the costs of all investments in the UK, including in net-zero projects like nuclear and renewables at a time when oil refineries are closing, the steel industry is on life support, and the wind industry already wants more expensive price guarantees.
“The Government is delivering higher prices, higher taxes, higher emissions, higher interest rates, lower investor confidence, and elevated risks to energy security.
“Earlier in the week, the Minister said he didn’t like billionaires very much. We can agree on one thing: he will ensure very few will wish to live here and pay his taxes.”
“The UK is a net importer of oil and gas and will continue to use these resources for energy for many decades to come.
“Banning the extraction of our own reserves or techniques like fracking doesn’t change that; it just makes their consumption more expensive and polluting. Encouraging union militancy in wind farms doesn’t change that; it just increases the cost of alternatives.
“The UK already has the most expensive industrial energy in the developed world and the second-highest domestic energy prices. Ed Miliband once stood on a platform attacking the ‘cost of living crisis’ when energy bills were half what they are today. He now wants to deliver that by sleight of hand, moving policy costs from bills to taxes.
“But this will change none of the fundamentals, bar raising the cost of Government borrowing. This in turn will raise the costs of all investments in the UK, including in net-zero projects like nuclear and renewables at a time when oil refineries are closing, the steel industry is on life support, and the wind industry already wants more expensive price guarantees.
“The Government is delivering higher prices, higher taxes, higher emissions, higher interest rates, lower investor confidence, and elevated risks to energy security.
“Earlier in the week, the Minister said he didn’t like billionaires very much. We can agree on one thing: he will ensure very few will wish to live here and pay his taxes.”
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