Nigel Farage’s Reform UK have made their “first big mistake” by pledging to scrap net zero, according to a polling expert.
The party’s leader and his deputy, Richard Tice, on Wednesday set out a raft of energy policies which they said would cut people’s bills.
They included a windfall tax on renewable energy companies and a ban on farmers who build solar panels on their land from claiming inheritance tax relief.
Tice said: “You’ve got to make a decision, either you are part of food production, part of food security for our nation, or you’re part of the renewables industry. So you can’t double dip.
“If you sell out to the renewables industry, then you would not benefit from that inheritance tax relief. That’s only fair.”
A tax on renewable energy companies would raise £10 billion - enough to cut bills by £350 a year, he claimed.
“The British people need to know there is a direct link between the cost of all these subsidies to the vested interests in the renewables industry and your bills, your cost of living,” Tice said.
Energy companies and the National Grid would also have to place power cables underground instead of erecting electricity pylons if Reform UK were in power.
But Luke Tryl of the More in Common think-tank said the party’s war on the green agenda could put them at odds with voters, the majority of whom are worried about climate change.
Posting on X, Tryl said: “Think Reform’s net-zero announcements may well be their first big mistake since their rise in the polls. There would definitely be scope to criticise specific climate measures, but trying to actively reverse shift to renewables lands well on wrong side of British public opinion.
“The danger for Reform has always been that they listen to their very active online base who have very different views from the pool of potential voters that would grow them into a potential party of government.
“Majorities in every single UK constituency say they are worried about climate change. It is no longer the fringe liberal metropolitan issue. Do a focus group for Red Wall voters they’ll talk about worries for their kids and fossil fuels meaning reliance on ‘mad men like Putin’.
“Not only is opposition to net zero limited to about 16%. Most of the public see renewables as a way to reduce the cost of living, and help the economy grow. If other parties can show extra renewable taxes will push up the cost of energy it will hurt Reform.”
Sam Hall, director of the Conservative Environment Network, said: “Reform’s statist plan to put new taxes and red tape on British energy would cause household bills to skyrocket and pull the rug on energy firms.
“We should be unleashing homegrown energy that can make us more energy secure and self-reliant, not blocking new supply and decimating investor confidence.
“Energy bills are too high and must come down. But the problem is not net zero, it is our reliance on expensive gas imports and excessive government intervention in energy markets. To lower bills, we should let the market lead, back innovation, and remove barriers to private sector investment.
“Reform’s plan is not credible, takes us in the wrong direction, and would leave our children and grandchildren poorer and less secure.”
Greenpeace UK head of climate Mel Evans added: “This jumble of misinformation and gaslighting is just a cover to allow oil bosses to rake in even more billions in profits while leaving households exposed to more floods and storms and to the volatile gas markets that have pushed up bills.”