Aphra Brandreth: We need a realistic Conservative approach to energy and the environment 

Aphra Brandreth is member of Parliament for Chester South and Eddisbury.

We all say it about our constituencies, but in my case it’s true, that it is a privilege to represent a place blessed with some of the UK’s most beautiful countryside.

From the Cheshire Plain to the Sandstone Ridge, and from Delamere Forest to the North Wales borders, the landscape I am fortunate to call home is a national treasure. I never take that for granted. As a mother, and as an MP for a large rural community, I feel a profound responsibility to protect it.

The national debate often presents a false choice between affordable energy and environmental responsibility.

In reality, rigid targets risk driving up costs and simply shifting emissions overseas, without delivering the progress we all want to see. That is why a more pragmatic approach is needed, and why Kemi Badenoch is right to commit to repealing the Climate Change Act 2008 when the Conservatives return to government. We are already seeing the impact of Labour’s ideologically driven energy strategy: household bills are rising and businesses, already under strain, are facing soaring energy costs. It is clear we cannot continue on this path, constrained by an unrealistic and unachievable target of Net Zero by 2050, but that does not mean abandoning the goal of a cleaner, greener future.

Britain now has the highest electricity prices in the developed world with the equivalent of almost 40 per cent of the cost of producing electricity now a result of Net Zero spending, taxes and levies. A third of the wholesale price of electricity is because of the Carbon Tax, which does nothing to reduce emissions but artificially pushes up the price of electricity. It is obvious, but seems to have been overlooked, that if we make electricity cheaper then people will be far more willing to shift to electric cars and electric heating because they could see the benefit for their own budgets. By making prudent decisions now, using the resources we already have, and encouraging investment and growth, we can both reduce costs for families and create the economic foundation needed for long-term environmental progress.

In a recent opposition day debate the Conservatives called on the Government to support our plan for cheap power which would cut electricity bills by £165 for the average family. That plan would save families more than the announcement made by the Chancellor in her budget, which is simply shifting costs from people’s bills to their taxes, and doesn’t do a single thing to reduce energy bills for struggling businesses.

In the opposition day debate, I highlighted that at a time when energy security is crucial, the Government is choosing to close our North Sea oil and gas sector – an illogical decision that will cost jobs and billions in economic value, without delivering the environmental benefits that many people understandably want to see. The reality is that we will need oil and gas for decades to come. Shutting down domestic production doesn’t reduce demand; it simply increases our reliance on imports, often with a far higher carbon footprint. Liquefied natural gas, for example, has more than four times the production emissions as gas produced in the UK. And we are importing from Norway, which drills in the very same fields that we could be developing ourselves.

The UK has led the world in reducing emissions; they are now at their lowest levels since the 1850s. But climate change is a global challenge. While we bear the economic costs of cutting emissions, countries such as China and India continue to open new coal-fired plants. China is expanding its renewable capacity, but its emissions per person remain more than double those of the UK and continue to rise. With the war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, and the financial pressures being placed on the British people by Labour’s policies, we cannot ignore the need for energy security and, crucially, lower bills.

It is both logical and pragmatic to free ourselves from legislation that no longer reflects the realities of today’s world, to responsibly utilise North Sea resources, and to repeal punitive taxes such as the carbon tax on electricity generation – commitments championed by shadow Secretary of State Claire Coutinho. These steps are essential if we are to grow the economy, put more money in people’s pockets, and attract greater investment into the UK.

In the long term, by supporting a thriving free market and creating the conditions for growth and innovation, we can achieve the greener future we all want.

Rather than ‘labouring’ towards renewables at immense cost, we offer a vision that provides a genuine springboard to a greener future, supported by a practical, deliverable plan to get there. We can do it in a way that carries the public with us and stays true to conservative principles – principles that run through our renewed policy platform and which we can proudly champion.

Stop paying wind farms to switch off when it’s too windy.

Stop building solar farms on prime agricultural land.

Stop hiking up electricity bills and making it harder for people to switch to electric cars and heating if they choose to.

And stop destroying jobs in the North Sea, only to import gas from overseas that is worse for the environment.

That is environmental pragmatism, and that is the vision that the Conservatives are delivering.