Miliband says Farage trying to ‘airbrush history' over UK's fossil fuel reliance

Leader Live

21-07-2025

The Energy Secretary criticised the Reform UK leader's claim that it is 'mindless' for the UK to pursue climate action given its relatively small share of global emissions.
Speaking to MPs on the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on Monday, Mr Miliband said: 'Nigel Farage wants to airbrush history – he wants people to forget the fact it was our exposure to fossil fuels that led to the worst cost-of-living crisis in generations.'
'Family finances wrecked, business finances wrecked, public finances wrecked – and we're still paying the price.
'There is only one answer to that, which is homegrown energy that we control – and the security that you get from that homegrown clean energy is now essential for our energy security and national security.
'Any decision to say let's remain on fossil fuels, subject to a global market controlled by petro states and dictators, frankly surrenders our energy security and national security.'
Mr Miliband was responding to comments made by Mr Farage during a BBC interview on Sunday, in which the Clacton MP argued: 'It is absolutely mindless for a country that produces less than 1% of global CO2 to beggar itself.'
Pressed on whether he believed in man-made climate change, Mr Farage told Laura Kuenssberg: 'Do I believe there's climate change? Yes.
'Does man have an influence? Impossible to think we haven't got some influence – as to what proportion it is, I've no idea.'
Mr Miliband said such arguments 'fly in the face of people's experience of what has happened to them and what they are still facing'.
He also hit out at Reform deputy leader Richard Tice, accusing him of threatening investment in Britain's growing green economy.
Mr Tice recently sent a formal letter to clean energy firms warning that Reform would seek to cancel net zero-related contracts if it wins power.
'The renewables agenda no longer enjoys cross-party support,' he wrote.
'As a result, your potential participation in AR7 – and any future auctions based on the Clean Power 2030 framework – carries significant political, financial and regulatory risk for your shareholders.'
AR7 refers to the UK Government's upcoming seventh allocation round for Contracts for Difference (CfDs), the primary mechanism for supporting low-carbon electricity generation projects such as offshore wind farms.
Winning bidders are guaranteed a set price for their energy, providing investment certainty for developers and helping drive down costs.
Mr Tice argued that offshore wind farms, new pylons and energy storage infrastructure are driving up costs and threatening grid stability, adding: 'If you enter bids in AR7, you do so at your own risk. We will seek to strike down all contracts signed under AR7.'
In response, Mr Miliband said: 'There are people that want to use their opposition to clean energy and climate action to say it is the fault of that – they are just wrong.
'The really irresponsible thing that Richard Tice is doing with that letter is he is almost deliberately putting at risk tens of thousands of jobs across our country.'
He added: 'The net zero economy grew three times faster than the economy as a whole last year – he's sending a message to companies: don't come and invest in Britain.
'We're sending the message: come and invest in Britain.'
Later in the session, Labour MP Mike Reader asked Mr Miliband: 'Do you think that your response has been tough enough?'
The question prompted a wry smile from the Energy Secretary – a nod to his infamous 'tough enough' line during the 2015 general election campaign.
'I'm happy to be tougher,' he replied.
'It's deeply irresponsible what Richard Tice is doing. I think frankly it is playing politics with people's jobs and people's bills.
'It's deeply, deeply irresponsible – and when it has come into contact with reality, you've even got Reform mayors now saying, well, we're distancing ourselves from this.
'It's not where the British people are. I don't think the British people want a culture war on this.'