Tony Blair's thinktank accuses Ed Miliband of driving up energy prices

"The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) published a report on Friday criticising the government's green policies and urging the energy secretary to drop some of them altogether, including almost completely decarbonising the electricity system by 2030. The report feeds into growing criticism from the right about the way the government is pursuing its decarbonisation goal and deepens the antagonism between the two former Labour leaders over climate policy."

"The report, written by the institute's senior energy policy adviser, Tone Langengen, and endorsed by Blair, says: If Clean Power 2030 was ever fit for purpose, that is no longer the case: the world has changed economically, technologically and geopolitically. The UK's energy framework has not adapted to these new circumstances and as a result, policy is drifting away from the fundamentals it must serve."

"A Labour source said in response: The mainstream, centre-ground position, backed by the economics and British business, is that getting off expensive fossil fuel markets controlled by petrostates and dictators and on to clean homegrown power is the right choice for Britain. Miliband is under pressure to cut energy bills, having promised before the election to bring them down by 300 on average."

Criticism accuses Ed Miliband's green agenda of driving up energy prices and calls for dropping some policies, including almost complete electricity decarbonisation by 2030. The criticism argues that economic, technological and geopolitical changes have left the UK's energy framework out of step, causing policy to drift from necessary fundamentals. Pressure is mounting on Miliband to cut energy bills after a pre-election promise to reduce them by £300 on average. Business leaders warn electricity prices may be higher in 2030 than during the peak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Supporters of clean power counter that shifting from imported fossil fuels to homegrown clean energy strengthens energy security.

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