Ed Miliband criticises Reform's Net Zero stance

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband criticised Reform UK's stance on Net Zero as he defended his decision to approve a large solar farm in East Yorkshire.

A proposal to build a 3,155 acre (1,277 hectares) site near Howden, despite objections by locals, was given the go-ahead last week.

Reform, which recently took control of Lincolnshire County Council as well as winning mayoral elections in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, has campaigned on abandoning the government's target to reach Net Zero by 2050.

Miliband said Reform's view was "wrong" and added: "We're going to have a debate with them about it."

Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice, who is the MP for Boston and Skegness, has described renewable energy as a "massive con" that raised energy bills and pledged his party would introduce a windfall tax on green energy companies.

Miliband added: "I think people vote in elections for all kinds of reasons, but I'm going to make the case, as will local MPs, for why renewables are about lower bills and they're about good jobs.

"Just a few miles from here we've got the Siemens factory - 1600 people manufacturing wind turbines. What I'd say to those people who've been elected is don't turn your back on those jobs. Don't turn your back on lower bills."

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero was visiting the site of a solar farm in Cottingham that provides electricity to Castle Hill Hospital, five days after approving the site in Howden.

He said he understood why people have concerns about solar farms and took those on board when making the decision to give it the go-ahead.

"Whenever decisions like that are made, we listen to local people's views," he said.

"But we have to make also wider decisions about how we're going to get clean, homegrown power that we control so we can cut people's bills and we know what happens when we're left reliant on fossil fuels."

One local protest group said there was "severe disappointment" that the site was approved.

Its developers said it would produce 400 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 100,000 homes.

Due to its size, the decision to go ahead was made by Miliband as it is classed as national infrastructure.

It is one of a number of large solar developments planned for East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

He told BBC Look North: "Every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we build, every piece of infrastructure we build helps get us off those fossil fuels and give us energy security."

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