Can Britain Survive Ed Miliband?

The growing revolt against Net Zero delusion

At the Conservative Party Conference’s Think Tent this week, a heavyweight panel — Harry Wilkinson (GWPF), Andy Mayer (IEA), Kathryn Porter (Watt-Logic) and Lord Offord (Shadow Minister for Energy Security & Net Zero) — tackled a question that grows more urgent by the day: Can Britain survive Ed Miliband?

The answer, resoundingly, was not if his policies continue.

Net Zero’s Economic Absurdity

Kathryn Porter opened with a forensic dismantling of Miliband’s repeated myths — from “dictator gas” to “cheap renewables.” She reminded the audience that gas prices have already fallen, yet Britain’s energy bills remain sky-high because of decades of Net Zero-driven costs and subsidies.

After 35 years of public support, renewables are still nowhere near self-sufficient. Porter’s comparison between a single gas plant and a sprawl of offshore turbines laid bare the scale of waste — miles of underused cabling, vast transmission costs, and system instability that consumers pay for through ever-rising bills.

Factories close, emissions are offshored, and fuel poverty grows — all in the name of “saving the planet.”

Energy Security is National Security

Andy Mayer was even more direct: “The fundamental duty of a government is national security.”
A modern military runs on energy, not ideology. From tanks to data networks, combat readiness means fossil fuels — yet Miliband insists on “leaving it in the ground.”

Mayer argued that Net Zero is bankrolling the Chinese Communist Party, through dependency on imported solar panels and turbines built in Chinese factories powered by coal. Even British developers like Octopus now buy directly from Chinese state-linked firms such as Mingyang.

He called Miliband “monomaniacal” — and few in the audience disagreed.

The ‘Just Transition’ Lie

Lord Offord drove home the economic truth of Net Zero’s betrayal. Britain’s industrial energy costs are uncompetitive, pushing firms and jobs abroad. He called “just transition” the most unjust phrase in politics — oil and gas workers earning £70k a year are told to accept £40k installing turbines that don’t work half the time.

He warned that Grangemouth and the North Sea are on the brink, strangled by tax and policy hostility.
“In Texas,” he said, “the same plant would be making $150 million a year.” In Scotland, it’s facing closure.

Offord argued that Net Zero could remain a goal, but never a legal target. Ideology written into law — as Miliband insists — is destroying competitiveness, sovereignty, and jobs.

Carbon Capture, Subsidy Farming and Economic Folly

Questions from the audience turned to carbon capture and drilling. The panel was unanimous: CCS is a costly distraction that hasn’t worked anywhere at scale. Porter added that early decommissioning will drain the Treasury, not fill it.

Offord admitted that he once believed in CCS but now calls it “an alluring ideology”. Mayer called it a “fool’s errand” in Britain — “digging holes and filling them in again.”

Across the board, speakers slammed the subsidy-driven “Ponzi scheme” of renewables — wind rewarded, gas punished, and costs socialised onto ordinary people. As Porter put it, “causing harm to prevent harm makes no sense.”

The Shale Opportunity — If Only Allowed

Porter and Mayer agreed that shale gas remains a potential lifeline — provided sensible seismic thresholds and proper regulation are in place. The technology is proven, the resource abundant, and the infrastructure already here. Yet Miliband’s government bans it while importing LNG from America and Qatar.

The Path Forward: Prosperity, Not Penitence

In closing, Lord Offord reframed the debate: the fight isn’t about “climate denial” — it’s about economic survival and prosperity. With defence spending rising from 2% to 5%, he asked: how can we possibly pay for it while strangling our energy base?

Mayer’s answer was simple: “Stop the money.” End the subsidies. Let markets, not ideology, decide what works. Only then will investment flow back into real industry, not into the pockets of subsidy farmers.

The Verdict

So — can Britain survive Ed Miliband?

Not while he wages ideological war on the nation’s energy, industry, and independence.

But as public patience runs out, the truth is spreading. Voters, unions, and even sections of the Tory Party are waking up.

The question now isn’t whether Britain can survive Miliband —
it’s whether Miliband’s fantasy can survive Britain.