Farage Eyes Net Zero as 'Next Brexit' Dividing Line
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- Reform UK, the Conservative Party, business interests, and right-wing media are attacking the UK's 2050 net zero target, with Reform leader Nigel Farage telling the Sun on Sunday it could be "the next Brexit — where parliament is so hopelessly out of touch with the country."
- The coalition's central claim — that net zero is worsening the oil crisis caused by the war on Iran and that North Sea drilling is the remedy — runs against the source's stated evidence that more North Sea oil will not cut UK bills, while climate action would protect against future energy shocks.
- More than 60% of UK voters support climate action, but climate has slipped to about eighth among voter concerns — a major fall from its top-three ranking following Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021 and the summer of 2022, when UK temperatures first topped 40C.
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves and PM Keir Starmer have not recently spoken up in support of net zero, in contrast to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband's forceful advocacy, with rumors Reeves wants to cut the North Sea windfall tax to encourage more drilling.
- Experts compare the campaign to the Brexit referendum; Green Alliance's Shaun Spiers said the same people are using "similar arguments" to blame climate action for the cost of living and the economy "even though it's clearly not to blame."
- IPPR's Sam Alvis warned that Reform may pull voters in on migration and welfare, then shift them to its climate position — "there is evidence that this is happening."
- Harvard Kennedy scholar Robbie MacPherson urged Labour to go "all out" for net zero, arguing that "a half-arsed position drives unpopularity" and that voters want authenticity over fence-sitting.
Why it matters: With 60%+ of voters still backing climate action and the public not having actually turned against net zero, the political vulnerability lies in Labour's silence: Starmer and Reeves have not recently defended the target while Miliband has, handing Reform a free shot at defining it. If the UK's most senior politicians don't match the energy secretary's advocacy with consistent messaging, the cost-of-living-dominated news cycle leaves climate action undefended on a dividing line Farage has openly chosen.
