Ed Miliband survives reshuffle – for now at least. A number of national newspapers have claimed that Sir Keir Starmer tried to move Ed Miliband out of his energy brief and into the housing department in the recent Government reshuffle, but the former Labour leader refused – insisting he wanted to keep overseeing the climate drive to net zero. ITV political editor Robert Peston also made the claim on The Rest Is Money podcast.
Keir Starmer is said to have asked Miliband to take over Angela Rayner’s housing department as he reshaped his team. The Prime Minister has pledged a new focus on growth as he tries to get the government back on track amid dire polls. ‘Unknown Insiders’ believe that the Net Zero drive has been holding back economy activity. The policy has also come under attack from the Conservatives and Reform who are reported to be between 10 and 15 per cent ahead of Labour in the Polls.
It is a policy development that would have been unthinkable just three years ago, when the four-decade-long cross-party consensus on the climate was firm. The main difference on the issue now between Reform and the Conservatives is that the former would scrap net zero altogether and the latter may keep it, but with a later date.
Recently, Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, Greater Lincolnshire’s mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns and Councillor Sean Matthews, who leads the county council, launched a campaign at a press conference held in Boston earlier. They said they opposed wind and solar farms and battery storage facilities, with Tice adding: “It is an absolute outrage what the madness of net stupid zero is doing to our county, as well as to our country.”
It is a view shared by all Reform run local authorities. They also intend to dismantle renewable energy subsidies. Meanwhile Downing Street said that the PM is ‘delighted’ that Mr Miliband will continue to lead the energy department, but did not deny Sir Keir had initially suggested moving him.