Claire Coutinho: Labour's dangerous net-zero plans leave UK at the mercy of China

Claire Coutinho claims Labour's net-zero plans could threaten the UK's ability to 'keep the lights on' Photo: Geoff Pugh for The Telegraph

Labour's 'dangerous' net-zero plans will leave Britain at the mercy of China, the energy secretary says.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Claire Coutinho said Labour's pledge to move the UK on «clean energy» by 2030 — five years earlier than the Conservatives — will leave the UK «overly reliant» on Chinese-made metals, cables and batteries. as Europe grew weaned from Russian oil and gas.

Ms Coutinho said Sir Keir Starmer's target to «decarbonise» the electricity grid five years earlier than the Conservatives' 2035 target would mean the move would be «too fast». “soon”, leading to a shift to “made in China” due to the need to import key materials to have any hope of meeting the target within six years.

She also said the plans, which are part of Labor's proposals to achieve an overall net-zero target by 2050, could threaten the UK's ability to «keep the lights on».

The Cabinet Office said the industry's performance was privately «concerned» and considered the plan «unworkable» despite companies being reluctant to criticize Labor publicly.

The government's official strategy includes an «ambition» for low-carbon electricity to make up 95 per cent of Britain's electricity supply by 2030. Even this goal will require a radical overhaul of the energy system and a significant increase in the number of cables and poles needed to transport electricity.

In addition, the Minister for Net Zero and Energy Security, a close ally of Mr Sunak, who previously served as his adviser at the Treasury, said her main advice to the Prime Minister was to «keep going forward». »

The Conservatives have consistently trailed Labor by around 20 points in the polls, but Ms Coutinho, 38, insists “we are fighting to win”.

Coutinho, 38, insists the Conservative Party is «fighting to win»; Photo: Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph

To achieve its clean energy target by 2030, Labor has pledged to quadruple offshore wind power generation, triple solar power and double the country's onshore wind capacity .

But Sir Keir abandoned a £28 billion green spending pledge that would have helped achieve that goal after the Conservatives said it would lead to higher taxes and borrowing.

The report , published last week, said the pledge would require more than £15.5 billion of additional investment a year until the start of the next decade.

Ms Coutinho said: “At the moment there is one dominant player in the world when it comes to things like critical minerals or batteries. and that's China.

“So if you say we're going to have this unattainable goal that no other major economy could achieve, then what you're ultimately sending to the world is what we're willing to pay any price you give us. , which will cause costs to plummet, you also don't have time to develop supply chains here, meaning you'll be dependent on China.

«So that means what Labor is proposing is a 'made in China' transition, but I want one that's made in Britain.»

The costs of achieving the target «will mean… higher taxes for people, higher bills for people and essentially no confidence that we can keep the lights on», Ms Coutinho said, adding that the plan would mean «send ing] money to China.»

Ms Coutinho said she had «worked very hard to build Britain's supply chains» but that 2030 would be too early for the country to have manufacturing capacity required to decarbonize the electricity grid. without heavy dependence on Chinese products.

She added: “On the energy side, we have just seen a period where continental Europe has been forced to move away from Russian oil and gas, we cannot do that and at this point be dependent on China for critical mineral supplies.”

“So it's really important that as we think through energy policy over the next couple of decades, we look at all of these components of the supply chain to make sure that we're safe and that we're not overly reliant on one part of the world.

“We just saw that you rely too much on one part of the world, it affects all of our security… It is important that we make people feel safe, feel that they can pay their bills.”

“When I talk to consumers, when I talk to households, not a single person asks about this date, not even the climate change lobby asks about this date. They pulled it out of thin air, it’s a complete fantasy.”