The Climate Change Committee has unveiled its latest carbon budget as part of the government’s drive toward Net Zero. Unsurprisingly, it comes with a hefty price tag. The quango estimates that “the net costs of Net Zero will be around 0.2% of GDP a year on average” until 2050—amounting to roughly £5 billion annually over the next 25 years. That’s the same figure as Starmer’s planned defence spending increase…
The CCC’s recommendations include:
Governments have historically followed the CCC’s five-year carbon budgets as required under the Climate Change Act. Translation: higher bills and extra costs for households, and the economy. Meanwhile, Starmer faces scrutiny over whether his defence spending sums actually add up. The IFS has pointed out that cutting foreign aid by 0.2% would cover less than half of what he needs. If Starmer is serious about hitting 3% of GDP on defence in the next Parliament, he should start by slashing Net Zero pledges next…
Paula Barker, Liverpool Wavertree MP backing Andy Burnham, told Times Radio there wouldn’t be trouble from the markets under Burnham:
“The markets will have to fall in line.”