
Ed Miliband slammed after claiming ramping up fossil fuel production would NOT cut Britain's energy bills
The Energy Secretary was ambushed by Trump official Tommy Joyce at his own London summit.
3
Mr Miliband insists increasing fossil fuel production would make no difference to energy prices here, which are four times higher than in the US.
He has banned new North Sea oil and gas licences — while US President Donald Trump 's administration has vowed to 'drill, baby drill'.
But Mr Joyce launched into an onslaught against Red Ed and Labour's green agenda.
At the international energy summit, he said Net Zero efforts to halt global warming were restricting energy supplies and giving too much power to China.
He told the conference: 'We oppose these harmful and dangerous policies. This is not energy security and we know exactly where it leads.
'These policies have been embraced by many, not just the US, and harm lives.'
Mr Miliband had earlier dismissed calls to increase oil and gas production here.
He told the BBC: 'Fossil fuels are not going to get us out of our energy bill situation.
"There is only one answer, which is clean home-grown power which we control.'
But Tory MP Nick Timothy told The Sun: 'Ed Miliband is clearly on another planet.
' He wants to stop drilling in the North Sea, but import the same oil and gas from the same seabed — from Norway.
'The Norwegians get the profits and the tax revenues, and we get the costs and the energy insecurity.'
Reform UK's Richard Tice added: 'If we started our own domestic production of shale gas, we too would have much lower energy prices.'
3

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


ITV News
16 minutes ago
- ITV News
Kemi Badenoch labels Labour policy a 'disaster' for farming in Wales
Kemi Badenoch has said Labour policies have been a disaster for farming in Wales. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has said that Labour governments in Cardiff and London have been 'a disaster for farming' here in Wales. Speaking at the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells, she said a Conservative UK Government would 'reverse' Labour UK Government plans to change inheritance tax, which she called 'the immoral family farm tax'. She told ITV Cymru Wales: 'We are promising to back farmers. Farming is a way of life. Standing up for farmers is standing up for Britain. And one of the things that Labour did when it first came into office was bring in the immoral family farm tax. It is going to destroy farming across our country. And I have said that once Conservatives get back into government we will reverse it.' As well as still reeling from a massive defeat in last year's UK General Election, which saw not a single Conservative MP elected for Wales, the party is also looking at losses ahead of next year's Senedd election. The most recent Barn Cymru poll for ITV Wales and Cardiff University suggested the Conservatives could end up in fourth place with as few as nine Senedd Members. In her interview, Kemi Badenoch acknowledged that her party faces an uphill struggle. 'Well, we know that we suffered a historic defeat last year," she said. "It's not going to be easy to get back on track, but that's the work that I'm doing. It's one of the reasons why I'm here, getting all across the country, trying to rebuild trust with the public, acknowledging where we made mistakes and showing that Wales has not thrived under Labour. It certainly won't under Plaid. It most definitely will not under Reform.' She was asked, too, if she has confidence in Darren Millar's leadership of the Welsh Conservatives in Wales. She said. 'Absolutely. Darren is here with me. We get on famously. We speak all the time. He is absolutely the right person to be First Minister.' And she was asked, too, about the status of his leadership. When Andrew RT Davies was first in charge of the Welsh Tories, the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, said publicly that Mr Davies was considered the leader of the wider party in Wales. Since then, other leaders have held varying views. I asked her: 'Who is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives? Not just the group in the Senedd: who leads the Welsh Conservatives?' KB: 'I do.' 'And where does Darren Millar sit in that?' KB: 'Darren is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd but this is not what the public are asking about. They want to know who's going to deliver for the people of Wales and that is the Conservatives.' 'The only reason I ask is because different Conservative leaders have given different answers.' KB: 'Well you've asked me the question. We are a united party. We are the Unionist party. We're not interested in carving ourselves up and having lots of little, you know, different groups and factions. We are the Conservative and Unionist Party. We believe in the United Kingdom. We want Wales to be very much a part of the United Kingdom, not what Plaid Cymru is offering. Labour will end up sectioning Wales off the way they're going.' And she backed the decision to insist that Conservative candidates in next year's Senedd election should not be opposed to devolution, saying: 'That is the settlement that we have now. Devolution is a process. What we need to make sure is we have the best people. It's the people that matter.' Asked if she was sceptical about devolution, she said: 'Well, yes, because people think devolution is a solution in and of itself. It's not. It's how you use it. And that's why you have to look at the people. If you put bad people in, then it doesn't matter whether you're devolved or not, if you have great people then yes, devolution would work.' The Conservative leader said: 'That's that, honestly, in terms of the top 100 things that this country needs, that's not one of them.'


ITV News
16 minutes ago
- ITV News
Multi-million pound taxpayer cost of Birmingham bin strike revealed in report
The ongoing bin strike in Birmingham is estimated to have cost the city council almost £4 million. The industrial action, which has been causing disruption since January this year, has left residents having to endure missed collections and heaps of rubbish in the street. But it's also inflicted financial pain on the local authority, which effectively declared itself bankrupt in September 2023. In a recent finance report, Birmingham City Council said it incurred a 'significant level' of one-off response and clear-up costs during April and May because of the strike. They included street cleansing, extended opening hours of Mobile Household Waste and Recycling Centres, security costs and additional support to tackle the accumulation of waste. The report also stated that, as the strike continues, additional costs were building up for: A proportion of the costs were mitigated by the reduction in staff costs, with striking bin workers instead being financially supported by the Unite union. However, up to the end of May, the factors were still estimated to have cost the council around £3.9 million according to the report. 'It is not possible to determine how long the strike action will continue, thus a forecast for the future cost impact of the strike has not been incorporated,' it said. It added that the city council would not be providing a green waste service in 2025/26, which had been budgeted to achieve £4.4 million. 'Income from bulky waste and commercial waste are also anticipated to underachieve,' it said. 'However, the income received from the energy contract relating to the incineration of waste will over-perform and offset this as was seen in 2024/25.' The report also focused on the transformation of the council's waste services, which was pushed back because of the industrial action earlier this year. The project has been described as a key part of the crisis-hit council's recovery plan and will see collections move from weekly to fortnightly. Weekly food waste collections and a second recycling bin specifically for recycling paper and cardboard were also set to be introduced in phases across the city from April onwards. But the report said: 'The council has had to delay the delivery of several savings and the implementation of transformation plans. It is anticipated that as street scene transformation is rolled out, a proportion of these savings will be achieved but this will be subject to the timing and speed of rollout. 'Some, but not all, of the projected savings shortfall is therefore associated with the impact of the industrial action.' The council said a number of projects across its 'city operations' directorate faced the risk of slippage. In total, the cost of the 'non-delivery' of savings after mitigation, amid transformation plans being delayed, was forecast at £10.1 million, according to the council. Tensions over the strike have dragged on into the summer, with Unite voting to suspend the membership of Labour councillors at the city council, including leader Coun John Cotton and also deputy prime minister Angela Rayner. The council said it was ending negotiations with Unite to resolve the dispute, which was initially triggered by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role. Striking workers have raised concerns about pay while the Labour-run council's leadership has repeatedly insisted a 'fair and reasonable' offer had been made. Birmingham City Council said last week it would notify staff and unions of its intention to enter consultation with affected workers – while keeping the door open to those wanting to accept offers to retrain or be redeployed. Council leader John Cotton said at the time: 'We have negotiated in good faith but, unfortunately, Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service. 'This is a service that has not been good enough for a long time and we must improve it. 'Unite's demands would leave us with another equal pay bill of hundreds of millions of pounds, which is totally unacceptable, and would jeopardise the considerable progress we have made in our financial recovery.' Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment, said last week that the council remained committed to creating a 'modern, sustainable and consistently reliable waste collection service for all residents'.


Spectator
16 minutes ago
- Spectator
The Liaison Committee summed up Starmer's woes
If you want a sign of how badly things have gone wrong for this government, compare Keir Starmer's third Liaison Committee grilling with his first. Back in December, it was all stonewalling and smiles, as the Prime Minister gently dead-batted questions in front of a (largely) sympathetic crowd. Seven months on, the audience remains the same: 18 of the 26 select committees in the Commons are chaired by Labour MPs. But now the tone has hardened considerably. Today's session focused on poverty and international affairs. Normally, these might be regarded as areas in which a redistributive social democrat premier would excel. But after the benefits U-turn a fortnight ago, Starmer found himself subjected to some hostile grilling. His worst moment came when Debbie Abrahams, the chair of the welfare panel, said that his ditched reforms were 'so far removed from Labour values of fairness and social justice I have to say I felt ashamed.' In his wearisomely-familiar style, Starmer gave Abrahams a set of stock lines which any No. 10 spokesman could have mustered: he wants more people back in work and has commissioned a review to ensure it. A similar formula was deployed when Florence Eshalomi, the chair of the housing select committee, asked about the Budget's freeze to local housing allowance. Starmer defended the decision – before pledging 'there will be a chance to look again across the board.' As the recent Ashes series has shown, there is often merit in a Geoffrey Boycott-style approach to defence. But refusing to even attempt to score some runs can certainly tire the patience of the crowd. The frustration on the face of Liam Byrne and others was visible as Starmer made his way through the 90-minute grilling, stubbornly refusing to enlighten his assembled colleagues. Challenged multiple times on the detail of an answer, the PM begrudgingly promised to write in due course. A classic case was offered in an exchange with Meg Hillier. 'What other accomodation are you planning to take over to provide temporary accommodation for families?' she asked in a discussion on migrants. 'Oh, there's lots of housing in many local authorities that can be used and we're identifying where it can be used', Starmer gaily replied. 'Have you got any examples you can give us?' retorted Hillier. 'No but I'll write in and give you details', he answered, haltingly. It says something when Gaza offers easier ground for a Labour PM to discuss. Pressed by Andy Slaughter on how the government will 'protect Palestinians from mass killings', Starmer offered the usual line about the need for an immediate ceasefire and aid to enter the region. It was a depressing and predictable note on which to end an underwhelming and angst-ridden first year for Starmer. Asked by Hillier for the highlight of his initial 12 months, the Prime Minister responded 'walking into Downing Street.' Being something, rather than doing something – with this government, the jokes all too often write themselves.