Tice said recent flooding in the U.K. had “nothing to do” with climate change — a view sharply at odds with climate science.
These positions are not shared by voters, the majority of whom believe climate change is one of the biggest issues the country faces. They broadly support ministers’ plans for big, climate-friendly investments, according to polling by YouGov. Parties like the Greens, which have even stronger climate goals than Labour, also made gains in July.
“It is definitely true that Reform voters prioritize climate change less than other groups of voters, but they also don’t vote Reform for that reason,” argued Luke Tryl, director of the think tank More in Common.
Instead, the party has found a way to weaponize green policy by tying it to an issue on which the government is already vulnerable: Sky-high energy bills.
Labour frontbenchers, including Miliband, pledged during the election campaign to cut bills by up to £300 a year. Instead, energy costs have increased steadily since they took office and are set to rise again this spring. (Labour is now reluctant to repeat the £300 commitment.)
Tice, whose party finished second to Labour in 89 seats last summer, is alive to the political opening. “It [net zero] is driving up bills,” he said. “January’s bill’s gone up, April’s bill is going to go up.” If bills don’t fall like Labour promised, “people are going to be very angry,” he predicted at the end of last year.