Reform UK plans to scrap Net Zero and impose a windfall tax on renewable energy firms if it wins the next election. This announcement has sparked intense debate, with supporters cheering the move as a victory for energy independence and critics warning that it will undermine economic growth and environmental progress. I should point out that there are many things that I agree with Reform UK on, in fact, my first foray into politics was with its predecessor, the Brexit Party, but it’s exactly seeing this type of "Megaphone Party Politics" that leaves me unable to support them. I have been a long-time supporter of strong borders, an end to uncontrolled immigration, lower taxes, and entrepreneurial Britain, but I find this latest policy from Nigel Farage PLC to be deeply flawed.
First, let’s be clear, Net Zero is a goal we should strive for, not because of arbitrary deadlines like 2030 or 2050, but because innovation in cleaner energy is the key to long-term prosperity. The idea that we should scrap Net Zero entirely is economically illiterate. It ignores the fact that every other major emerging technology receives subsidies and government support precisely because of the long-term benefits they provide. Why should renewable energy be any different? Reform UK’s plan to tax wind and solar farms while allowing fossil fuel industries to continue receiving tax breaks is not reform, it’s just the same outdated thinking from a different angle.
Banning things sends innovation backwards. Take diesel cars for example, 30 years ago they were dirty planet killers, by contrast the modern diesel car I drive is just as clean (cleaner I would argue) than an electric car. Yet this technology progression and refinement has ceased because successive governments have ’banned’ things without fully grasping the whole idea of technological advancement, and yes I am calling out my own party here. As we know the Labour environment minister is barking mad and wants to see us back in 1974 with his next zero agenda, but 9 jobs Nigel seems to want to take us back to 1874 with thick black smoke everywhere. It seems there is also conflicting views within Reform, Rupert Lowe is very quiet on this subject perhaps it’s because he part owns Kona Energy, a battery storage company and Alto Energy, a heat pump supplier.
Energy policy should be designed to create a resilient, diverse, and self-sustaining power network. Instead, Reform UK wants to introduce taxes that will discourage investment, drive up household energy bills, and pull the rug out from under businesses that have spent years planning for a transition to greener energy. Investors require stability. When you threaten to impose new taxes on renewables while failing to offer a viable alternative, you send a clear message, Britain is not a safe place for energy investment.
A key point Reform UK seems to miss is that our biggest issue is not just power generation but power supply infrastructure. If we want to move away from the volatility of fossil fuel prices, we need to invest in nuclear power, energy storage, and modern grid technology. But Reform’s plan does none of this. Instead, they want to force the National Grid to bury all new pylons underground, an expensive, disruptive, and unrealistic proposal that will cost billions and cause unnecessary chaos, not to mention put places like Wales and Scotland back in the dark ages. Good luck with putting underground cables through mountains.
Reform UK is putting forward a stupid and regressive policy that will do nothing but stifle innovation and burden consumers with higher costs. Scrapping Net Zero outright won’t bring back coal powered industry, nor will it magically lower bills. Instead, it will damage investor confidence, destroy jobs in emerging industries, and leave Britain lagging behind in the global energy race. Reform UK needs to wake up to the reality that real economic growth comes from innovation, not from backward looking policies that do nothing but shout at the problem without offering real solutions
