The Government is missing a golden opportunity to help businesses invest in Net Zero - Yorkshire Post Letters

Just before the Office for National Statistics announced that the UK is in recession, there was a meeting of the UK Government’s Business Council.

Chief executives of major companies representing a broad spectrum of UK business were providing practical advice directly to Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt.

A spokesperson for the group was interviewed before the meeting and said that the council, like the CBI before it, would demand more clarity on Net Zero and government support for the recommendations of the Mission Zero review.

Most of the money that will be needed for our transition to clean energy will come from business, but the investment is not happening because of chaotic Government policy and messaging.

Even the Daily Telegraph’s World Economy Editor agrees. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes that the clean energy revolution is now unstoppable and economies that invest today will win the race. We're lagging behind China, the USA and the EU.

Why is the UK’s policy so confused? Because the government is making Net Zero a political football and the Daily Mail has helped the Tories turn an issue, which should have cross-party support, into a petty culture war.

This is weak leadership based on environmental and economic ignorance.

And those who say, ‘what about China building coal power stations’ should dig a bit deeper. There are more power stations, but they are idle more often and many are running at a loss.

As China invests far more in clean energy, it is clear that its use of coal will start to drop. Some say it may already have peaked.