Blair U-turns on criticism of Labour's net zero policies

Sir Tony Blair has performed a dramatic U-turn following his attack on the government’s net zero policies as the row threatened to derail Labour’s plans.

- DAVID MADDOX, ARCHIE MITCHELL, KATE DEVLIN

The former prime minister had warned that Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s eco policies and the push towards renewable energy were wrong because voters know the financial and lifestyle sacrifices needed to meet government pledges will have virtually no impact on climate change.

His criticism, contained in the foreword to a report for his Tony Blair Institute (TBI), fuelled the fury over high energy costs that have exacerbated the cost of living crisis and damaged economic growth by piling on costs for businesses and manufacturers. But in a reversal yesterday, a spokesperson for the TBI insisted that Sir Tony supports the current government’s policies.

The spokesperson said: “The TBI report is clear: we must prioritise technologies that capture carbon, place a bigger emphasis on protecting and enhancing nature, and develop new nuclear power, smart grids, and a new system of financing existing renewable solutions in developing economies. The UK government is already pursuing these, and their approach is the right one.”

They added: “The report is clear [that] we support the government's 2050 net zero targets, to give certainty to the investors and innovators who can develop these new solutions and make them deployable.”

The U-turn came less than 24 hours before voters go to the polls in the local elections and the Runcorn by-election, in the first major electoral test of Sir Keir Starmer’s government since last year’s election. Downing Street was asked whether officials had scrambled to secure the clarification from Sir Tony’s think tank, and did not deny that this was the case.

Kemi Badenoch’s official spokesperson told journalists: “She enjoyed the fact that, barely five minutes out from PMQs, the Tony Blair Institute felt it fit to release that statement.”