Inside the UK’s renewables capital - where Reform’s popularity is growing
As Reform grows in popularity in the Humber region, where green energy is its best asset, Andrew Misra tracks down the region’s Mayor to ask him questions about net zero.
If you travel in or out of Hull, chances are you’ll encounter the Humber Bridge in one way or another. If you’ll indulge me for a second, the bridge has a fascinating history.
The structure, once the longest of its type in the world, was born out of a campaign promise made by Labour during a 1966 by-election in Hull.
Sixty years on, though, there is another political party around, with rather different ideas on how to manage the region’s best asset.
No, not the bridge. Green energy.
Renewables capital
The Humber region is considered the renewables capital of the UK. In fact, it has been said that the Humber is to clean energy what the City of London is to finance.
The UK is committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Theresa May made the target legally binding in 2019, before stepping down as Prime Minister. Significant progress has been made since then. In fact, the UK is half way to reaching the goal.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates that the net zero sector is worth £8bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the local economy in Hull and East Yorkshire. It supports around 75,000 jobs, with major employers including Siemens Gamesa and Ørsted.
Beckie Hart, Regional Director of the CBI for Hull and East Yorkshire, told us that the region’s net zero sector was growing all the time.
“I think the climate target is part of it, obviously, but actually it’s much, much bigger than that, because the sector is not a niche sector anymore,” she said.
“It stretches into construction, manufacturing, digital services, professional services, and so that agglomeration effect of all those different types of jobs is really important.”
The net zero sector is growing three times faster than the rest of the UK economy. Despite those economic benefits, though, the policy is by no means universally popular.
Recently, former prime minister Tony Blair added to that criticism by calling for the net zero targets to be scrapped in the UK.
‘Net zero stupid’
The party currently leading the polls, Reform UK, has long made its opposition to net zero clear. Nigel Farage has called the policy a “complete and utter disaster”, while his Deputy, Richard Tice, ordinarily refers to “net stupid zero”.
The party told us its position was that “the current net zero agenda is economically damaging and undermines Britain’s energy security and industrial competitiveness”.
Reform has scrapped climate targets at several councils it now controls. On Humberside, the party’s footprint is growing too. Not only does it have 10 new councillors in Hull, the first Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire represents Reform.
Olympic boxer
Luke Campbell was elected more than a year ago as Mayor. He is a former Olympic champion boxer from Hull and his passion for his home region is clear.
His stance on green energy and net zero, however, is not well established.
We have been asking for an interview with the Mayor about this for months, to no avail. So, we tracked him down at a meeting of the combined authority he leads.
‘Bankrupting us’
There, pictured above, he stood by labelling net zero as “disastrous”. He told us: “My remit is for this region and to benefit the residents of this region. I think clean energy is great. I’ve always said clean energy is great.
“I don’t like the fact that net zero is more or less bankrupting our economy. It’s bankrupting us, it’s killing businesses, is costing everyone an absolute fortune. It’s costing us.”
While net zero projects are often expensive initially, scientists agree they save money in the long term. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is widely accepted to be cheaper than continued reliance on fossil fuels.
The Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, Professor Rob Gross, said: “If we’re not going to move towards clean power and net zero, what will we do instead? And that’s really not obvious to me that there’s an alternative that is viable.
“People talk about oil and gas in the North Sea. There’s some oil and gas in the North Sea for sure, but the amount of oil and gas that’s left there is not going to be a game changer for Britain’s energy security.”
“By contrast if we can make real progress with renewables, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, heat pumps, we can get off the fossil fuels rollercoaster for good.”
The previous political consensus on net zero has disappeared. Reform has been clear that it wants to scrap the policy.
In regions like East Yorkshire, though, where net zero infrastructure is so well established, it is not that simple.
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