UK Industry Leader Backs Tory Pledge To Axe ‘Carbon’ Taxes If Elected
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has backed Conservative plans to scrap ‘net zero’ taxes in a move that would slash energy bills for households and businesses
The billionaire founder of petrochemical giant Ineos said he welcomed plans by the Conservative Party to completely scrap levies on ‘carbon’ emissions if it wins the next election.
Sir Jim said he was in favour of policies that would “keep the lights on” and make energy affordable “in a way that is practical and sustainable”.
He previously warned that ‘carbon’ taxes were hurting European industry because they made domestic products far more expensive than those coming from countries such as China.
Unveiling the plans to axe levies on ‘carbon’ emissions, Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said they were “killing British industry and fatally weakening our national resilience”.
Under the Conservatives’ proposals, industrial firms would no longer have to buy so-called ‘carbon’ credits to compensate for emissions generated under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
The changes would also make electricity much cheaper for all consumers by cutting the cost of gas-fired power generation by around one-third.
The proposals are supported by major industrial companies, including oil giant ExxonMobil and chemicals producer Huntsman Corporation, as well as industry bodies such as the Chemical Industries Association and Ceramics UK.
However, the plans are likely to provoke outrage among climate campaigners who claim that ‘carbon’ taxes are essential to deterring investment in ‘fossil fuel’ projects that cause global warming.
It would also be likely to put the UK at odds with the European Union, which is introducing a “carbon border” mechanism.
Mrs Badenoch said:
“I have heard from countless bosses how ‘carbon’ taxes and ‘green’ levies have made doing business in Britain much, much harder than it needs to be.
“It’s time to reverse decades of deindustrialisation by doing what Keir Starmer lacks the backbone to do: axe the ‘carbon’ tax in its entirety.
“We all want to leave a better environment for the next generation, but it is madness to pursue that goal by killing British industry and fatally weakening our national resilience.”
Paul Greenwood, chairman of ExxonMobil’s UK business, which runs the Fawley refinery in Hampshire, said his company “pays hundreds of millions of pounds in CO2 costs every year that many of our international competitors do not pay”.
He said:
“We support policies that create a level playing field and allow us to continue building the strong refineries on which this country depends.
“Continuing as-is risks both jobs and our national security.”
Peter Huntsman, president of Huntsman Corporation, which runs the at-risk Wilton aniline plant in Teesside, said:
“The carbon tax, along with banning domestic energy production, is driving the deindustrialisation of Britain, pushing up costs, weakening competitiveness and destroying jobs and livelihoods.”
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