Farage’s Reform UK Vows Windfall Tax on ‘Renewable’ Energy Firms to Recoup Cost of Green Subsidies

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party vowed that if it wins the next election, it will do away with the disastrous Net Zero green agenda pursued by the Westminster establishment and place a windfall tax on the so-called Renewables sector.

Mr Farage and his deputy leader Richard Tice said they were putting the “renewables industry on notice” on Wednesday as they laid out Reform’s plans to scrap Net Zero, to make energy prices competitive again, and to lower the cost of living of average Britons.

In a press conference, Farage said that while there has been lock-step agreement among all other parties in Westminster on the green agenda, Reform sees Net Zero targets as “being the primary reason for the de-industrialization of Britain.”

“Ironic, isn’t it, actually, that the Trump tariffs on aluminium and steel won’t hurt us very much because the entire aluminium industry is gone, and there’s very little steel. Why? Because our electricity prices for industry are between five and six times higher than those in America,” the Reform boss said.

Farage asserted that the “endless” subsidies handed out by London to often foreign renewables firms had a direct link to the cost of energy soaring for domestic bills in Britain. “About which there has been an absolute wall of silence and almost no debate whatsoever,” he said.

Deputy leader and MP for Boston and Skegness, Richard Tice, said that if elected, Reform would not only abolish the subsidies to so-called green energy projects but would also impose a windfall tax on wind and solar firms in Britain to recoup the amount handed out in subsidies by previous governments.

“The great lie that’s been told is that somehow renewables are cheaper,” Tice said. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realise that the cost of renewables plus backup must be more than the cost of backup. It’s basic common sense, you see; you have to have the backup because sometimes the wind doesn’t blow and yes, here in the UK, it’s grey outside, and sometimes the sun doesn’t shine.”

The Reform deputy said that the government has spent around £100 billion on subsidies for green energy projects, which he noted would equate to around £3,500 per household post-tax to subsidize the industry while still having higher energy costs.

“Net Zero is without question the greatest act of self-harm ever imposed on the nation by the people in Westminster. It’s killing jobs whether it’s in the car industry, whether it’s in the oil and gas industry, whether it’s in the steel industry, whether it’s in the chemicals industry, the truth is that decarbonization does mean deindustrialization,” Tice remarked.

In addition to a windfall tax, the Reform MP said that his party would put an end to farmland being used for green projects, saying that while solar panels may make sense on the top of homes or buildings, requisitioning farmland for solar was “insanity”.

Thirdly, Tice said that the large-scale battery energy storage systems, often built next to solar farms, would be banned under a Reform government until they can be proven “absolutely safe”, claiming that there is a “complete lack of responsibility and accountability for the safety standards and regulations ” within the renewables sector.

He pointed to the devastating fire last month at the Moss Landing Power Plant in California, one of the world’s largest battery energy storage facilities, reportedly contaminating the air, soil, and water in the surrounding areas with heavy metals.

Finally, Reform said it would mandate all energy pylon cables to be put underground, arguing that it is a cost-effective measure and would preserve the natural beauty of British landscapes.

“We are serving notice on the renewables industry, on the investors, on the operators, and all the advisers and the lawyers had better take note, we are serving notice that not only do we plan to win the next general election, but when we do, things are going to change,” Tice said.

“President Trump is putting America First and our future Prime Minister Nigel Farage will put the United Kingdom first,” he concluded.

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