Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Businesses can’t afford ‘heavy blow’ of net zero taxes April 29, 2025 INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has slammed UK net zero policies as unaffordable and claimed carbon taxes are “killing manufacturing”. The Manchester United co-owner described payments to be made by INEOS’ Grangemouth as part of the UK Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), which puts a financial cost on carbon emissions, as “yet another tax bill” that [...]
Larry Fink: Britain is ‘undervalued’ and Yimbyism is essential April 25, 2025 BlackRock boss Larry Fink has described British assets as “undervalued” as he indicated that more investment would be pumped into the UK economy. The chairman of the world’s biggest investment company praised the urgency across Europe to deliver higher growth as he said that the UK had been “so smothered” by unnecessary regulation. “[We] have [...]
EDF’s two nuclear plants should be negotiated as one, French minister says April 25, 2025 EDF’s two nuclear construction schemes at Hinkley Point and Sizewell C should be treated as one financial venture in negotiations, according to France’s energy minister. Marc Ferracci told the FT he had held discussions with the UK’s energy minister Ed Miliband at the sidelines of a conference in London on Thursday. “France and EDF are [...]
Grid connection for clean energy firms to be fast-tracked, ministers say April 15, 2025 Grid connections for businesses delivering clean energy are to be prioritised, ministers have said. The government has said so-called ‘zombie projects’ which hold up the queue for National Grid connectivity are set to be axed from the waiting list. While industries including data centres and AI, wind energy and solar projects will be accelerated for [...]
China’s out to destroy our steel industry? We can do that on our own. April 15, 2025 The two remaining furnaces at the Scunthorpe steel plant, known as Anne and Bess, have blasted through plenty of crises over the course of their long lives and now, thanks to an emergency effort by ministers to source enough materials to keep them fed, it seems they’ll roar for a few more years. But it [...]
Why the UK can’t get a grip of its energy crisis April 14, 2025 A months-long cost-of-living crisis, state bailouts of consumer energy bills, endless planning rows, judicial interventions and now the near-collapse of Britain’s only manufacturer of virgin steel all show different sides to the UK’s ongoing energy crisis. Its dependency on foreign imports, poor planning of infrastructure and lack of control over soaring bills means the extent [...]
Net zero no longer a priority for SMEs April 8, 2025 The majority of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) have sidelined net zero practices, according to a survey of around 500 business owners, in signs that net zero policies are increasingly falling out of fashion. President Donald Trump’s abandonment of Biden-era green policies has driven a global trend that is seeing firms and governments move away [...]
Heathrow fire ‘not believed suspicious’ but under Met counter-terror probe March 24, 2025 The cause of the fire which shut down Heathrow Airport is “not believed to be suspicious” but is under investigation by the Met Police counter-terrorism squad, a minister has said. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander updated MPs on the “unprecedented” power outage which shut Britain’s busiest airport over the weekend in the House of Commons on [...]
Grid operator to ‘urgently investigate’ Heathrow power outage after fire March 22, 2025 Energy secretary Ed Miliband has ordered the National Energy System Operator to “urgently investigate” the power outage caused by a substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport on Friday. He is working with Ofgem and using powers under the Energy Act to formally launch the grid operator’s investigation. “We are determined to properly understand what happened [...]
Ed Miliband in China for climate meetings amid new investment approach March 14, 2025 Energy secretary Ed Miliband is in China for climate meetings in a bid to restart the government’s environmental dialogue with the Asian nation. The energy security and net zero secretary will meet Chinese counterparts Wang Hongzhi and Huang Runqiu to pursue efforts to work jointly to slash emissions, the government said. It marks the first [...]