Decarbonisation plans put Conservatives on 'collision course with British families'

Electoral disaster faces Tories if they press ahead with costly new green taxes

Government plans to add a carbon tax to the cost of personal transport fuels and household heating will be an electoral disaster for the Conservatives. Millions of households are now facing the prospect of a dramatic rise in the cost of living.

Subsidies to renewables and other climate policies currently add £11 billion a year and rising to the price of electricity, which means natural gas is more attractive by comparison for home heating, and petrol more attractive for vehicles. 

Under the proposals new green taxes will be added to natural gas and transport fuels to make them even more expensive than “green” renewable electricity. The average cost of running a petrol car could rise by more than £100 a year and the average gas bill could increase by as much as £170, almost a third.

The plans will be particularly hard on poorer households who cannot afford the high upfront costs of electric vehicles and heat pumps. While they will be hit by rising prices, wealthier households will be given large grants to purchase expensive “green” equipment.

According to GWPF Energy Editor, Dr John Constable:

“The government’s unbalanced obsession with Net Zero is driving Boris Johnson into a head-on collision with British families and businesses, who are already struggling with the aftermath of the pandemic. Renewables such as wind and solar are forcing the price of electricity ever upwards, but government refuses to admit the failure of its policies, and now, in what is surely a Poll Tax moment, the Conservatives are seriously considering large Climate Taxes on household comfort and personal freedom.”

Dr Constable added:

“The societal impact of these green taxes is likely to be crippling just when the UK is facing some of its biggest post-Brexit opportunities and gravest geopolitical challenges."