Kemi Badenoch launched the Conservative Party’s ‘policy renewal programme’ today, while disputing the current Net Zero emissions target set by the UK government.
Broadcast live on social media platforms, Badenoch attacked plans to reach the milestone by 2050, branding it an “impossible” number. In particular, she criticised the current Labour government and Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, as well as deriding Reform UK’s energy plan.
Badenoch talked of refreshing her party’s policy from the ground up, starting with addressing Net Zero. She argued the party needs to be “tackling problems with the detail they deserve”, “rooted in realism, not wishful thinking”, and signalled a new direction in other policy areas which will arrive more concretely in the coming months.
The party leader opened by acknowledging the public’s rejection of the Conservatives at the last general election, and referenced Margaret Thatcher more than once, pointing out her rebuilding of the party to be worthy of an election win in the late 1970s.
It was under the Conservative government of Theresa May that the UK legally committed to the Net Zero target by 2050. Badenoch was an elected MP at the time, and today we were reminded how she advised caution in 2019, requesting a clear plan of action that she says wasn’t forthcoming till years later.
Today she defined her problems with the target via three main “truths”. One, that the published Net Zero plans are completely muddled, arguing the costs are too high. Two, claiming that even where there is a plan, the UK is behind, citing the relatively slow uptake of heat pumps in UK housing at taxpayers’ expense. Three, arguing we are exposing ourselves to countries who do not “share our values”, citing a growing dependence on China for greener technology.
Net Zero refers to a scenario where the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions are equal to those removed from the atmosphere over a year. Today, Badenoch assured her audience she did not have a problem with the general goals of reducing the UK’s environmental impact: “It is our duty to safeguard the delicate balance of nature for future generations.” However, she argued that current policies are not achieving this, while driving up the price of energy.
In the speech, watched by around 10,000 viewers at the peak on X today, Badenoch did acknowledge that the UK has made the greatest progress on reducing emissions in the developed world, but pointed out it’s come at the expense of rising energy bills.
