Ed Miliband Must Stop Blaming Putin for Britain’s Energy Woes
In the Telegraph last week, Secretary of State for Energy Security (or so he claims) and Net Zero (of which we can be much more certain) Ed Miliband writes that ‘Small nuclear reactors will help end our reliance on dictators like Putin‘. It’s a very obvious and deeply patronising framing, characteristic of politicians who think that policy agenda ‘A’ can be made more popular with group ‘B’ by aligning it with resonant issue ‘C’. Hawks to greens. But this ABC-approach to political comms looks more like an attempt to convince himself that he has convinced Telegraph readers than an attempt to address Net Zero scepticism.
The Telegraph, it should be stated, is on Miliband’s case, not his side. The broader Tory fold lost its commitment to the green agenda in the wake of the Johnson cake coup when several then-recently former ministers began breaking ranks on what had been a government consensus of all parties. The Truss and then Sunak regimes began slightly winding down their Net Zero commitments, though very far from what was necessary or could reasonably be called ‘Net Zero scepticism’. In the year before the premature election, followers of the climate debate (such as it was) observed a sea change in news media commentary. The Telegraph has latterly reflected this change of mood, at last committing journalistic resources to investigations of the green agenda’s excesses. And that is why Miliband’s missive is published in that paper, not in the Guardian.
To read the rest of this article, you need to donate at least £5/month or £50/year to the Daily Sceptic, then create an account on this website. The easiest way to create an account after you’ve made a donation is to click on the ‘Log In’ button on the main menu bar, click ‘Register’ underneath the sign-in box, then create an account, making sure you enter the same email address as the one you used when making a donation. Once you’re logged in, you can then read all our paywalled content, including this article. Being a Donor will also entitle you to comment below the line and access the premium content in the Sceptic, our weekly podcast. A one-off donation of at least £5 will also entitle you to the same benefits for one month. You can donate here.
There are more details about how to create an account, and a number of things you can try if you’re already a donor – and have an account – but cannot access the above perks on our Premium page.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Miliband, eh! ‘Norway keeps the UK running, providing 50.2% of our gas from its state-owned reserves. That’s 76% of the gas we imported in 2023, continuing a streak that’s seen the Scandinavian country supply the majority of the UK’s gas imports for 24 of the past 25 years….. The North Sea has provided the country with gas since 1966…..in 2024, sites in the area produced enough gas to supply 50% of the UK’s demand, according to the latest government reports’ https://www.sunsave.energy/blog/uk-gas-sources Britain’s North Sea could hold up to three times more oil and gas than the Government suggests, with leading analysts Wood Mackenzie estimating 14 billion barrels in existing fields. ‘If UK fields were able to match recovery factors from analogous global fields, an additional 9pc could be recovered. If best-in-class recovery factors were matched, an additional 18pc of recovery could be added. “These scenarios would potentially add seven and 14 billion barrels of additional production, respectively, over the lives of the 100 largest fields.” “The problem is not one of lacking oil reserves – rather, it is the politicisation of the extraction process. “With the correct approach to tax policy, North Sea oil and gas could remain a key employer… Read more »
Drill Baby, Drill!
Succinctly put….
I’m standing by, ready to go!
Where are Britain’s uranium mines?
I’ve just read that in 2023 the only country the UK imported nuclear fuel from was Germany. Hilarious.
I trust the German eco-loons are refusing to accept electricity over the interconnects from France without assurances that no neutrons were involved in its production.
However my search also unearthed:
Thank goodness for the Colonies.
There is that old saying that “The people get the politicians they deserve”. This has never been more true than with the cretinous Ed Miliband. This eco socialist pretend to save the planet United Nations arse licker has and is doing incredible damage to this country, and his absurd Climate Policies are destroying our Industrial Base and forcing millions into energy poverty. He has been doing this since 2008 when he gave us the Climate Change Act. Yet here he is nearly 18 years later still in charge of energy and still destroying our prosperity.
So yes, we must truly be collectively thick to still have elected this moron. There is not a word that comes from his mouth that is remotely true. But if we are going to be so stupid then we are only “getting the politicians we deserve”
Nobody but the constituents of Doncaster North voted for Miliband and nobody voted for him to become energy secretary.
Worryingly, there is some speculation that Miliband could be in the running to replace Starmer. Can you imagine how that would be?
If he were PM he’d have to answer directly for England’s bankruptcy and would be forced to abandon net stupid zero.
Maybe.
Yes but fortunately it looks like they won’t be the government anymore and the sooner the better. It is our duty to not vote for any phony planet saving Political Parties again and currently the only one not insisting on coercing us into UN Climate Change Alignment is REFORM. But personally I don’t care who gets us out of this eco socialist crap. It could be the Monster Loonies, I don’t care as long as we GET OUT
A liar lies to the population is hardly news.
He is significantly responsible for our energy insecurity and the exorbitant price we pay for it.
I say significantly, not completely, because he was only following Orders.
You’re suggesting he’s competent? Nah!
It is is true Miliband isn’t alone. The entire Political Class are in on the phony planet saving agenda that isn’t about the planet.
Miliband isn’t really a liar. Just a textbook example for the adage If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.
Bullshit, lies, misinformation, deception——call it what you want. The guy is an eco socialist UN Nations arse licker and what is coming from their mouths is the classic GRIFT.
Can someone please adjust the volume level of the Milispeaker such that its output stops being audible? Or maybe, force a bacon sandwhich in his mouth?
There are no price makers and price takers in a market because the people who want to sell something cannot sell it for more than other people are willing to pay for it. If “Putin” wants to sell gas at a price which is more than the UK is willing to pay, he’ll have to find someone else who’s willing to pay more or eat it instead because without such a buyer, he won’t get more money for his gas. A market price is the outcome of a negotiation among buyers and sellers and usually, a mutually beneficial outcome. The seller gets something that’s worth more to him than what he’s trying to sell. And the buyer something which is worth more to him than what he’s willing to pay for it.
You can explain market mechanisms to socialists but you can’t make them understand .
So we’re currently dependent for our energy on hostile capitalist countries like Norway and USA and moving it to glorious Communist, friendly countries like China? And all the while when we’re sitting on several hundred years supply of gas and oil under our feet. Why’s he smoking?
Pound notes he got from the likes of Dale Vince would be my guess.
Would be great if the telegraph published some of Ben’s articles. Same goes for Chris’s too.