Continue Net Zero business as usual and preside over the worst energy crisis in British history, Tory candidates are warned

Net Zero Watch has warned Conservative candidates jostling for the party's leadership that any pledge to continue with a business as usual approach to Net Zero will lead to the worst energy cost crisis in British history.

To assess how serious each candidate in the Conservative leadership contest regards the 'cataclysmic' energy cost crisis Britain is facing, Net Zero Watch is sending a list of key questions to all candidates to find out where they stand on each of these pressing cost issues.

Dear leadership hopefuls,

As Martin Lewis is warning about a 'cataclysmic' energy crisis which threatens to drive up to 10 million people into real poverty this winter, will you put the energy cost and security of supply crisis at the top of the government's reform agenda?

Will you commission a cost-benefit analysis on current Net Zero plans?

Will you pause all Net Zero plans that are aggravating the energy crisis?

Will you suspend all green levies on energy bills to reduce the energy cost crisis?

Will you cancel constraint payments, and compel wind and solar generators to pay for their own balancing costs, thus incentivising them to self-dispatch only when economic?

Will you remove all fiscal and other disincentives to shale gas exploration to increase domestic production levels?

Will you review carbon taxation on electricity generation in order to provide consumer relief and ensure security of supply?

Will you review all policy initiatives directed towards the 2050 Net Zero target, including the Carbon Budgets, the heat pump targets, and the overly ambitious timetable for the ban on petrol and diesel engines, in light of the energy crisis?

We look forward to your responses.

The Net Zero Watch team

P.S. To read up on the underlying causes of the UK's energy crisis see our Short Guide to the Energy Bills Crisis (pdf).