Former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair (Image: Getty)

       All-out war over “irrational” net zero policies has broken out within Labour after Environment Secretary Steve Reed backed Tony Blair’s claim that the current strategy “isn’t working”. Sir Tony, the former Labour Prime Minister, has provoked fury by calling for a full-scale rethink of net zero plans and warning that voters are being told to make “financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle” for no good reason.

       Labour sources have described the comments as a “public tantrum” and called them “really unhelpful” as party activists campaign for Thursday’s local elections. But Mr Reed defended the former Prime Minister. While he is Environment Secretary, the net zero policy is overseen by Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero.

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       Appearing on Times Radio, Mr Reed was asked by presenter Kate McCann: “A Labour source has said that this is a public tantrum from Tony Blair. Do you agree with that person?”

       Mr Reed said: “No, I don’t. You know, he’s making a valid and important contribution to a very significant debate that we’re having.

       “I agree with much of what he said, but not absolutely every word and dot and comma of it.

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       “But this government is moving to clean energy because it’s best for Britain. It’s more energy security for Britain. It’s jobs and investment right across the United Kingdom. And those are all things we all want to see.”

       A source close to Steve Reed insisted there was no disagreement. The source said: "This is absolute nonsense. Steve was referring to Tony Blair's comments on carbon stortage and nuclear power.

       "We have always been clear that fossil fuels will be part of the mix for decades to come. We want to see a just transition to renewable energy."

       Sir Tony said in a foreword to a report from his think tank the Tony Blair Institute that the current approach was making voters more hostile to net zero policies. He said debate had “become irrational” and people were “turning away from the politics of the issue because they believe the proposed solutions are not founded on good policy”.

       The former Prime Minister said: “In developed countries, voters feel they’re being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal.”

       Downing Street insisted that Sir Keir Starmer’s Government’s approach has a minimal impact on people’s lives.

       A No 10 spokesman told reporters: “We will reach net zero in a way that treads lightly on people’s lives, not by telling them how to live or behave.

       “Clearly there’s going to be a range of views but we are of the view that this is an enormous economic opportunity and as the Prime Minister has made clear, we’re already seeing the benefit.”

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       Addressing Sir Tony’s criticism of plans based on quickly curtailing fossil fuels, the official said: “We’ve always said that oil and gas have a role to play in the future of energy supply.”

       In his intervention, Sir Tony wrote that global trends including the expected rise in fossil fuel use and the doubling of airline travel over the next 20 years undermine current climate policies.

       “These are the inconvenient facts, which mean that any strategy based on either ‘phasing out’ fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail,” he wrote.

       He argued there should more focus on emerging technologies such as nuclear fusion,sustainable aviation fuel and carbon capture.

       Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has insisted he agrees with “a lot” in the think tank’s report.

       Speaking in the Commons, he said: “It says on CCS (carbon capture and storage), we should move ahead, which this Government is.

       “On AI and the role of AI, this Government should move ahead, which we are.

       “On nuclear, we should move ahead, which this Government is doing.”

       But Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said Sir Tony’s criticism is a “clear message” that the Government needs to “rethink” its approach to net zero.

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       She told Sky News: “A couple of months ago, (Conservative leader) Kemi Badenoch gave a big speech about net zero, her concerns about it, how the targets that have been laid are proving impossible to meet.

       “Lo and behold, it seems now Sir Tony Blair agrees with her, and it’s the Labour Government that perhaps has lost their way in this argument.”

       She added: “If Tony Blair, even Tony Blair, doesn’t agree with the Labour Government, then that is quite a clear message, I would imagine, to them, that they have got to rethink this.”

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