Net zero MPs challenge Reform deputy over vow to drop green energy deals

A group of nearly 60 Labour MPs has written to Richard Tice challenging the Reform UK deputy leader's vow to rip up green energy contracts if his party wins power and questioning whether he appreciated the impact this could have on the economy.

- Peter Walker

Led by Polly Billington, the MP for East Thanet, and signed by 58 others who have sustainable energy projects in their constituencies, the letter said Tice appeared to have "under-appreciated the growth potential of the green transition" when he wrote to eight leading energy firms warning that to bid for new contracts carried "significant" risk.

The MPs' letter said growth in the clean energy economy was 10% in 2024, and asked Tice: "When you made these threats, were you aware you were threatening one of Britain's strongest drivers of growth?"

It also cited estimates from the Confederation of British Industry that the industry supported more than 950,000 often well paid jobs in the UK, many outside London and the south-east, and asked if Tice saw the CBI as part of the "unquestioned liberal progressive orthodoxy" which he has blamed for promoting net zero.

Tice's letter, which he tweeted, warned energy firms against taking part in the next series of bids to apply for guaranteed minimum prices for offshore wind power provision, known as allocation round 7 (AR7).