But Miliband’s position is overly simplistic, said David Reiner, a professor of technology policy at Cambridge University.
Last month, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch withdrew her party’s support for the U.K.’s goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. | Carl Court/Getty Images
“The government has a number of conflicting claims, which I don't think you can fully reconcile,” he said. “The idea that we can move relatively rapidly to reduce emissions, and at the same time we see that somehow reflected in lower bills, and also have some sense of energy security — it's not clear that we can completely square that circle.”
Labour is “not on track” to fulfil its election promise to cut annual bills by £300 by 2030, agreed Adam Berman, director of policy at trade group Energy UK. Climate policies “will lower energy bills,” he said, “but it will take time for that to materialize.”
Privately, some Labour officials admit the same.
“It's too late in terms of [lower bills contributing to winning] a second parliament, because people want to see their energy bills come down now, not in 2030,” said a senior government official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal discussions.
The gas conundrum
Labour isn’t facing a full-blown public backlash yet. But one could be on its way, said Scarlett Maguire, a director at political consultancy J.L. Partners. “It's basically there for the picking. … I would say Labour don't have much time.”