‘Powerless Britain report’: More wasteful subsidies and regulatory meddling
30 March 2023
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Commenting on the government’s Powering Up Britain policy paper, Andy Mayer, Energy Analyst at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“The Chancellor claims that green growth and Net Zero will be achieved through competition and deregulation rather than taxpayer handouts. But the detail does not live up to the rhetoric.
“The Powering Up Britain policy paper recommits the government to wasteful subsidies and regulatory meddling while showing insufficient ambition to get out of the way. Despite a welcome pledge to reform the UK’s broken planning system for energy infrastructure, the government has only stated intentions rather than presenting the radical and urgent changes to the rules that are necessary.
“In many areas, the government is going in precisely the wrong direction. They are placing speculative bets and using taxpayer money on a series of unproven technologies – from carbon capture and storage to heat pumps and hydrogen. New carbon border taxes will not make industry more competitive, but rather, risk higher consumer prices and fuel the cost of living crisis.
“A ‘warmth tax’ – shifting green levies from electricity to gas bills – will hurt the poor, elderly and vulnerable, while the Boiler Upgrade Scheme extension will give £5,000 handouts to wealthy households. Retaining the ban on internal combustion engines by 2030 combined with a Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate will destroy the UK’s domestic car industry, while the £1 billion in subsidies for electric vehicles are unlikely to create an alternative.”
“The Chancellor claims that green growth and Net Zero will be achieved through competition and deregulation rather than taxpayer handouts. But the detail does not live up to the rhetoric.
“The Powering Up Britain policy paper recommits the government to wasteful subsidies and regulatory meddling while showing insufficient ambition to get out of the way. Despite a welcome pledge to reform the UK’s broken planning system for energy infrastructure, the government has only stated intentions rather than presenting the radical and urgent changes to the rules that are necessary.
“In many areas, the government is going in precisely the wrong direction. They are placing speculative bets and using taxpayer money on a series of unproven technologies – from carbon capture and storage to heat pumps and hydrogen. New carbon border taxes will not make industry more competitive, but rather, risk higher consumer prices and fuel the cost of living crisis.
“A ‘warmth tax’ – shifting green levies from electricity to gas bills – will hurt the poor, elderly and vulnerable, while the Boiler Upgrade Scheme extension will give £5,000 handouts to wealthy households. Retaining the ban on internal combustion engines by 2030 combined with a Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate will destroy the UK’s domestic car industry, while the £1 billion in subsidies for electric vehicles are unlikely to create an alternative.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
CONTACT: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
CONTACT: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
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