Lee Anderson has blasted Ed Miliband, accusing the Energy Secretary of “spaffing away” public money on net zero plans while the government claims to be tightening it’s belt to plug a “black hole” in the public finances.
Anderson (L) accused Miliband (R) of wasting public money on green energy plans (Image: Getty)
Appearing on GB News, the Reform UK MP for Ashfield argued that funds generated by the government’s move to cut winter fuel payments can be achieved by getting rid of clean energy proposals.
“This week, we’ve had mad Miliband, the most dangerous man in Britain, bleating on about GB Energy”, he told the channel.
“That’s £8.5 billion. Foreign climate aid, another £11 billion. There’s £20 billion this man is spaffing away. This, by the way, is taxpayers’ money. You’ve got pensioners in my neck of the weeds scraping through on about 15 grand a year.
Pensioners, Anderson added, are going have the winter fuel allowance “ruthlessly stole off them while train drivers are on 70 grand a year. It’s an absolute disgrace.”
Ed Miliband (Image: Getty)
A Treasury source reportedly told The Guardian: “It is a tough decision but we have a £22bn black hole that we have to tackle. Everyone recognises that we have to get a grip on the public finances.”
The decision, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in July will affect all pensioners in England and Wales apart from people on low incomes who received pension credit.
The source said the government was protecting the pensions triple lock and putting money into in a campaign to get as many people receiving pension credit as possible.
Miliband says GB Energy, a publicly-owned firm that will manage and operate clean power projects across the country, will create supply chains and jobs, whilst protecting Britons from international market shocks.
Miliband told MPs that UK has seen “the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation because of our exposure to fossil fuels. We have seen prices rise again on October 1, not because of decisions made by Government but because of our dependence on international gas markets.
Lee Anderson (Image: Getty)
“The argument for clean energy that we used to debate 15 years ago was a climate argument. It is now as much an energy security argument as a climate argument.”
But Anderson, who previously claimed only “odd weirdos” care about achieving net zero, said the decision would hurt pensioners.
He fumed: “These are political decisions. It’s a choice between these things and pensioners”, he said, adding: “But unfortunately, they are putting our pensioners at the bottom of the pile.”
The Green Energy Bill, which seeks to expand green energy production in the country and establish the pubicly-owned company, cleared its first Commons hurdle this week after MPs gave it a second reading with a majority of 253.
Miliband said the bill’s progress through Parliament marks a step towards establishing a firm “owned by the British people, for the British people.”
Further scrutiny of the Bill will take place when parliamentary time allows, with dates published on the UK parliament website.
