The job has fallen to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has belatedly woken up to the damage the net zero fanatic is inflicting on the UK economy.
For most of us, the threat was clear within days of last year’s election, when Miliband banned new North Sea oil and gas drilling projects.
The UK relies on fossil fuels for 78% of our energy, mostly imported at huge cost. This explains our lousy balance of trade and why manufacturing is collapsing across the UK.
Our energy costs are already four times higher than in the US, making UK business horribly uncompetitive and households colder and poorer.
Miliband’s plan to end domestic oil and gas production before renewables are able to fill the gap will make us poorer still. It may even trigger blackouts.
No economy can grow in the dark.
Green loon Miliband thinks the UK can generate 100% of its power from renewables like wind and solar by 2030, though he’s since trimmed that to 95%.
Today, we’re getting just 1% of our power from wind due to adverse meteorological conditions, known as the Dunkelflaute.
Basically, the wind isn’t blowing. The sun isn’t shining much either.
This doesn’t worry Miliband, but it does worry Reeves.
The Chancellor is feeling the heat. She’s realised you can’t grow the economy by issuing self-righteous press releases, slapping more taxes on businesses or throwing billions at unreformed public services.
She’s also woken up to the fact that economic growth is impossible while energy costs remain punitively high. And she’s woken up to the threat posed by Red Ed.
No government on earth is sabotaging its own energy production like Miliband has been. It’s economic suicide.
His unworldly idiocy has been brought into sharp focus by President Donald Trump, who wants the US to drill and frack all it can.
Yesterday Miliband declared net zero “unstoppable” but Reeves now takes a different view. She’s made it clear that growth trumps everything including emissions targets and is “the number one mission of this government.”
Reeves is reportedly gearing up for a cabinet fight over airport expansion too, with Miliband likely leading the other side.
Soon, she’ll face another battle. With deputy PM Angela Rayner.
The former union rep’s Employment Rights bill terrifies businesses.
It will crack down on zero-hour contracts, boost home working, hike sick pay eligibility and empower unions.
Rayner will also remove the existing two-year qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal, making it almost impossible to get rid of bad hires.
These measures are expected to cost employers an additional £5billion on top of existing red tape. Rayner will destroy jobs, not create them. If growth trumps all, Reeves will have to confront her too.
Businesses are already reeling from the £25billion Budget national insurance hike, expected to destroy 100,000 jobs. Ultimately, our Chancellor remains the biggest drag on the economy of all.
Which leaves us with a problem. Who’s going to slap down Reeves’ bad ideas? And how long have they got?
