The CBI Report Claiming Net Zero is 'Boosting the Economy' is a Stack of Lies

Energy prices have doubled in a decade

According to a new report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) economics unit, “The UK’s Net Zero economy is now a major part of the national industrial base”, which “supports more than a million jobs and generates over £100 billion in economic value”. Whereas on these pages you will have read many stories about what I and my colleagues (among many others) believe is a suicidal economic agenda that requires deindustrialisation and degrowth, that it is pushing energy prices upwards with no sign of recovery, driving the cost of everything higher and undermining British businesses, the CBI and ECIU claim that everything is sunbeams and rainbows. How can anyone tell which one of these opposing stories is true, and which is a massive steaming heap of lies?

We could begin by seeing how this story is being received by politicians. Following the report being covered in the Guardian (of course), Ed Miliband piped up to quote its headline findings.

And so did his underling, Energy Minister Michael Shanks, citing its “clear evidence”:

Curiously, then came from the opposition benches the former PM Theresa May, claiming that the report was “proof” of her Net Zero ‘legacy’.

Theresa May’s party has committed to scrapping Net Zero. But May never saw an Ed Miliband policy she didn’t like, not only including Net Zero but also the energy price cap, which Miliband had proposed. “May is stealing Ed Miliband’s clothes – but no one’s shouting ‘Red Theresa’,” whinged the Guardian in 2017.