ED Miliband has been slammed by the Tories over his vow to bring down energy bills by hundreds of pounds for households as part of his Net Zero plans.
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho wowed delegates at the party’s annual rally as she demanded: “Where’s our flipping £300?”
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Claire Coutinho demanded answers from Ed Miliband over his pledge to bring down energy bills by £300Credit: AFP
Voters were told by Mr Miliband that the average household bill will be lowered by the amount before the end of the decade.
It comes as the Tories set out their own plans to bring down energy bills by around £165 on the average household bill.
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Ms Coutinho said: “At the last election Ed Miliband promised to cut bills by £300. Keir Starmer promised it. Rachel Reeves promised it.
“Now last week Ed Miliband had some pretty choice words for Elon Musk about disinformation.
“So, conference, we’ve got a return message for Ed Miliband. If you want to talk about disinformation, where’s our flipping £300?
“Far from cutting bills, bills keep going up – and every choice Ed has made is making it worse.
“Ed says that building more wind farms will cut bills. But he’s signing up to prices that are the highest in a decade, well above the market price of electricity.”
Her intervention comes just days after party leader Kemi Badenoch vowed to roll back Net Zero laws.
She pledged to scrap the Climate Change Act saying it would free Ministers from legally binding targets to meet arbitrary climate targets.
The party says the Net Zero target by 2050 is making British people poorer, is destroying jobs and making the economy weaker.
The Tories say they will reduce bills by axing the carbon tax on electricity generation and also remove scrap the Renewable Obligation subsidy scheme.
Ending the carbon tax measure will save around £75 alone.
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Ms Coutinho labelled Great British Energy was a “vanity project”Credit: Darren Fletcher
Ms Coutinho also called Great British Energy one of his “vanity projects” that won’t reduce energy bills for families.
She said: “He also said that Great British Energy would lead to, and I quote, a “mind-blowing” reduction in bills.
“But it won’t generate any energy.
“Only Ed Miliband could launch an £8 billion energy company that won’t produce any energy.
“Let’s call it what it is. A vanity project that won’t cut bills. So we will scrap it.
“I will give Ed credit for one thing though. He’s managed to do something which is quite difficult, he’s managed to unite the Trade Unions, the Conservative Party, the voters, and Keir Starmer. How?
“Because they all want the same thing. Turns out they all want him sacked.
“And here’s the problem with the Left – they’re infected with a poverty mindset. They believe that Britain has a duty to make itself poorer on the altar of Net Zero.
“And they think that ordinary people should be the servants of their climate targets.
Coutinho added that Net Zero has “become a religion” and “is not working for Britain and it’s not working for the climate”.
She said: “The British people are no stranger to sacrifice for a just cause, but watching good jobs move abroad is not just.
“Piling more pain onto people’s bills is not just. And passing down a country that is less secure and less prosperous is not just.
“For too many people, net zero has become a religion, and for too long we were an unthinking part of the congregation.
“Here’s the problem with the legislation: we know it’s not working for climate change, but it’s also forcing ministers to make decisions that make people poorer.”
The Tories also pledged to abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if they win the next election.
The party vows to bring in a permanent 100% business rates relief for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector.
Around 250,000 businesses will benefit from the boost.
It will cost £4 billion a year and is funded from the £47 billion savings package announced by Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride.
The pledge comes after the government launched their £25 billion national insurance raid on firms at the Budget last year.
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Sir Mel Stride will make £47 billion of savings to help pay for business rates cut for firmsCredit: EPA
Sir Mel said: “Our high streets and town centres have been battered by Labour.
“The increases in the Jobs Tax and energy bills have hit them hard, and pubs and shops have seen their business rates bills more than double.
“We want to see high streets thriving again. Pubs are vital centres of community life, but they are closing on a huge scale.
“We will take decisive action to save small businesses and revive our high streets, lifting a quarter of a million shops and pubs out of business rates altogether.”
“Rachel Reeves claims to care, but her actions speak louder than words, and businesses have been left reeling as the Chancellor cut the rates relief put in place by the Conservatives, and plans to abolish it altogether next year.”
