Proposed heating tax to fund Net Zero is a social and political disaster in the making

London, 30 September - Boris Johnson has been warned that the government's proposed tax on home heating would almost certainly trigger a social and political disaster.

Press reports today confirm rumours in circulation for some weeks that the government is proposing to tax home heating with natural gas to support the cost of Net Zero.

This move would switch a large part of the still rising £10 billion a year subsidy cost of green electricity on to domestic natural gas supplies, which is the source of warmth for over 90% of the UK’s 26 million households.

Government is also said to be considering burdening gas consumers with other green levy costs, for example to support the use of hydrogen and electric vehicles. This comes on top of already rising gas prices.

The government expects that this huge tax burden will force households to switch to air source and ground source heat pumps, which are extremely expensive to install and likely to be ineffective in most older houses.

Dr John Constable, the GWPF energy editor, said:

The proposed Net Zero gas tax is one of the worst energy policy ideas to come out of the government in the last decade - and it has a lot competition. Loading the Net Zero costs on to home heating would cause a dramatic increase fuel poverty and  deep and justified political resentment.

Public trust in government competence, particularly on energy, is at an all-time low. This foolish proposal confirms those doubts. The Prime Minister needs to get a grip.”