Net zero is making electricity prohibitively expensive, according to a new report from Britain’s energy industry, raising new questions about the severe economic consequences of the green agenda and the role of the Conservative and Labour governments who have implemented it.

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A report published this week by Energy UK reveals that electricity has been approximately four times more expensive than natural gas per unit, with government-imposed policy costs contributing to the enormous disparity.

The findings come as British manufacturers struggle with some of the highest electricity prices in the Western world, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, are promising to dismantle the country’s net zero agenda and deliver substantial reductions in household energy bills.

British governments have spent years encouraging households and businesses to abandon gas in favor of electricity, while imposing costs that make electricity considerably more expensive, amid a cost-of-living crisis.

Labour and the Tories have gutted Britain's industry, leaving areas like Redcar behind.

Reform will scrap net zero, reindustrialise Britain and bring thousands of good jobs back into local areas. pic.twitter.com/38RbFDXWol

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 5, 2026

The Hidden Costs of Britain’s Net Zero Agenda.

Energy UK’s October 20 report, Sparking Change: How to Make Clean Heat Cheaper and Accelerate Electrification, acknowledges that Britain’s approach to financing decarbonization and social programs through electricity bills has made electricity artificially expensive compared with gas.

These costs include the Renewables Obligation, a subsidy scheme supporting renewable electricity generators, as well as other government programs financed through household and commercial energy bills.

Carbon pricing policies, including the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, impose an additional cost on electricity generated from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, substantial investment in the electricity network and the costs of balancing intermittent renewable generation contribute to the overall price of power.

Energy UK’s findings reveal that government policy has helped create a system in which electricity is considerably more expensive than the fuel consumers are being encouraged to switch to for the sake of the environment.

The report estimates that transferring remaining domestic electricity policy costs to general taxation would require approximately $3.34 billion annually in additional government spending. Combined with changes to gas standing charges, the reforms could reduce the electricity-to-gas price ratio from approximately four-to-one to three-to-one.

British Industry Is Being Crushed.

Energy UK reports that non-domestic electricity prices in Great Britain are around 50 percent higher than the median among G7 economies, crippling British business competitiveness on the global stage.

Energy-intensive manufacturers, including steelmakers, chemical producers, and heavy industrial businesses, are in the worst position, as they depend on low energy prices to keep their own costs down. Other countries are in much better positions, like France, which benefits from an extensive nuclear power industry, while American manufacturers enjoy access to comparatively cheap natural gas and electricity.

Britain, meanwhile, has pursued increasingly inane and self-harming decarbonization targets while maintaining a system in which wholesale electricity prices frequently reflect the cost of gas-fired generation.

An October report examining British steelmakers highlighted an electricity cost disadvantage of nearly $40 per megawatt-hour compared with French competitors. For companies consuming enormous quantities of electricity, such differences can translate into millions of dollars in additional annual operating expenses.

Major British Industrialist’s Warning of Impending Doom.

The growing industrial crisis was highlighted in September when billionaire industrialist Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s chemical giant INEOS announced it was suspending operations at three chemical plants in Hull. The company blamed high European natural gas prices, which have made chemical production increasingly uncompetitive against manufacturers in the United States and China.

The three plants collectively employ almost 4,000 people and produce chemicals used in pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, detergents, and construction materials. Ratcliffe warned that European manufacturers were being undermined by a combination of high energy prices and carbon taxation.

He claimed that European natural gas prices had reached approximately 12 times those in the United States and eight times those in China. The industrialist’s warning illustrates a wider danger facing Britain: businesses may relocate production overseas rather than continue operating under an increasingly expensive domestic energy system.

Closures can destroy skilled manufacturing jobs and weaken Britain’s industrial supply chains without even having much of an impact on global emissions, particularly when production shifts to countries with more carbon-intensive industries. The INEOS decision provides a clear example of what happens when environmental targets take precedence over industrial competitiveness.

Reform UK Promises to Scrap Net Zero and Cut Energy Bills.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is proposing a radically different approach to Britain’s energy crisis, promising to reverse the net zero policies pursued by successive Conservative and Labour governments. Under its official energy platform, Reform pledges to cut average household energy bills by approximately $334 annually within its first 100 days in government.

The party intends to achieve this by removing government-imposed policy costs from energy bills, transferring renewable subsidy obligations to the Treasury, and pursuing the renegotiation or termination of contracts it considers unfair to consumers.

Unlike Labour, which remains committed to the Green agenda, no matter the cost to Britons, Reform argues that the immediate priority should be reducing costs for households and businesses. The party has also pledged to scrap net zero policies it believes are undermining Britain’s economic competitiveness, while supporting nuclear generation and expanding domestic energy production.

Its proposals would mark a massive departure from the climate policies maintained by the Conservatives during their 14 years in government and subsequently embraced by Labour.

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice has made the party’s energy commitments a personal political test. In an October 1 speech in Doncaster, Tice pledged to resign if a Reform government failed to reduce average annual household energy bills by approximately $334 within its first 100 days.

Tice also accused Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband of failing to deliver promised energy savings when he served as Energy Secretary from 2024 to 2026, arguing that Britain’s green agenda had become an obstacle to economic prosperity.

Reform UK advocates increasing domestic oil and gas production, reducing dependence on foreign energy suppliers, and supporting nuclear power as a reliable source of electricity. It also favors reversing policies that discourage investment in Britain’s remaining fossil fuel resources.

For energy-intensive manufacturers, these measures could potentially reduce regulatory costs and improve confidence in long-term domestic energy supplies. Reform’s platform represents one of the only direct challenges to the assumption that Britain’s energy future must be organized primarily around achieving net zero, which is shared by nearly all of the establishment political parties in the country.

Britain’s Energy Future Requires Major Changes.

Energy UK’s latest findings are a late admission that net-zero policies are harming regular people. Even an organization committed to expanding clean electricity acknowledges that government policy costs have contributed to making electricity artificially expensive.

Its proposed solution is to restructure those costs and accelerate electrification. Reform UK, by contrast, wants to dismantle substantial parts of the net zero framework itself.

The Conservative governments that established and expanded Britain’s net zero commitments, and the Labour government now pursuing them, are finally starting to realize that their Green Agenda dreams are hurting their voters, but they still show no sign of changing course

For Farage and Reform UK, the situation is simple: cheaper energy, domestic production, and industrial competitiveness should take precedence over dubiously effective climate goals that are damaging people’s lives in the name of ideology.

I’ve said for many years that British manufacturing is being destroyed by net zero.

Now people are finally waking up and smelling the coffee.

We need a Reform government before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/ccQ9mNFdNh

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 11, 2026

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A former Conservative politician is facing trial over accusations of sexually violating a teenage boy, who was routinely brought to parties attended by other local government figures.

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Twenty-six-year-old Rylan Ray, a former representative on the Peterborough City Council in Cambridgeshire, England, has pleaded not guilty to 25 separate charges. The accusations leveled against the ex-councillor include one count of rape, four counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and three counts of making indecent images of children. There are eleven complainants.

During the proceedings at Ipswich Crown Court, prosecutors showed video footage of a police interview with one male complainant, who said Ray subjected him to non-consensual, inappropriate physical contact throughout his teenage years. A written deposition from the complainant’s mother, presented to the court by prosecuting attorney Lidia Iancu, noted that the Conservative politician regularly accompanied her son on daytime excursions and evening outings, frequently funding the entirety of the expenses.

The mother’s deposition highlighted that Ray escorted her son to “private parties that were held by a councillor called John Peach.” According to official documentation, these gatherings took place at the home of Peach, another Conservative who served stints as Council Leader and Mayor of Peterborough, and drew additional attendees among Ray’s “acquaintances from the council.”

The parent also recalled that her son received roughly £50 to assist with the physical preparations for one of these parties.

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During his recorded interview with law enforcement, the alleged victim noted that he and Ray had previously been “good mates.”

He went on to outline how he was approached on Snapchat by a profile that masqueraded as a young woman using the pseudonym Chelsie. Members of the jury had earlier been informed that numerous individuals targeted by Ray were approached by the Chelsie profile, with prosecutors maintaining that they were actually interacting with Ray.

The witness, who was only 16 or 17 years old at the time of the digital contact, stated that the vast majority of the correspondence with the account was explicit in nature and culminated in him transferring explicit pictures of himself. Upon reaching his 18th birthday, the complainant was allegedly approached on the dating utility Tinder.

A separate male witness who exchanged digital communications with the Chelsie account testified that he grew deeply skeptical of “Chelsie” and openly confronted Ray. According to his testimony, “Chelsie” had provided a telephone number, prompting him to place a direct voice call to the line, which he said was answered by Ray.

Prosecutors allege the behavior occurred across a span of six years, with a significant portion of the 11 complainants being Army Cadets. Ray previously volunteered with the Cadets in Cambridgeshire, holding the rank of detachment commander.

Ray was elected to Peterborough City Council in 2022, occupying his seat until this past May.

The trial continues.

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A historic French city hall that survived two world wars has been destroyed by youth rioters, as part of a wave of unrest, much of it involving young people from migration backgrounds, sweeping across President Emmanuel Macron’s France. The destruction comes amid nationwide violence that has left thousands of businesses damaged, thousands of rioters arrested, and many police officers injured.

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The 143-year-old city hall in Limoges, central France, was set ablaze by a masked mob on Saturday, October 17, during demonstrations over rising living costs and deteriorating public services. Rioters smashed windows and forced their way into the historic building before setting it on fire. Flames consumed much of the roof, while the building’s iconic 141-foot clock tower collapsed.

Residents compared the destruction to the devastating 2019 fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which shocked the entire world. Local officials described the destruction as a heritage catastrophe, while Limoges Mayor Guillaume Guérin criticized the lack of police protection, claiming officers had been diverted to deal with demonstrations elsewhere in the city.

France: The bell tower of Limoges City Hall has collapsed after a massive fire engulfed the historic building during protests.

The landmark, inaugurated in 1883, was more than 140 years old. https://t.co/7F4OO6tIiD

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 17, 2026

A Historic French Landmark Reduced to Ruins.

Limoges City Hall was inaugurated on July 14, 1883, deliberately coinciding with Bastille Day, the French national holiday commemorating the French Revolution. Designed by architect Charles-Alfred Leclerc, the neo-Renaissance building was inspired by Paris’s Hôtel de Ville and was an example of the architecture of France’s Third Republic.

Its elaborate stone facade, huge staircase, decorative interiors, and towering central belfry made it one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. The building received historic monument protection in 1975 and served generations of residents as the city’s center of government.

Remarkably, the building survived both world wars due to its location in France’s midwest, far from the battlefields of Flanders of 1916 and the Nazi blitzkrieg in 1940. However, mass migration and far-left violence proved to be phenomena that it could not survive.

Thousands Arrested as France Descends Into Rioting.

The destruction in Limoges was part of a much wider outbreak of violence that engulfed major French cities, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and Bordeaux. Around 2,400 people were arrested during the weekend’s unrest, while thousands of businesses suffered damage or looting. More than 3,000 shops were damaged nationwide.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had confirmed 150 injured police officers, but that was an early estimate, and the true number is likely higher. Rioters themselves also suffered serious injuries, including injuries from French police riot-control weapons.

In Marseille, rioters briefly breached the city hall, while the residence of the prefect in Bordeaux was damaged. Groups of rioters also approached within approximately 300 meters of the Élysée Palace, the French president’s official residence.

France’s Long History of Riot-Related Destruction.

The burning of Limoges City Hall is not the first occasion on which rioting has threatened France’s historic buildings and public institutions. During the 2018 Yellow Vest protests, far-left agitators vandalized the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, one of France’s most recognizable national monuments.

The 2023 riots following the police shooting of migrant-background teenager Nahel Merzouk were even more destructive. According to an official French Senate investigation, those disturbances resulted in 2,508 buildings being burned or damaged, including 105 town halls, 243 educational establishments, and 273 police or gendarmerie (paramilitary police) buildings. Rioters also burned 12,031 vehicles and vandalized or looted more than 1,000 businesses. The Senate estimated the total property damage at nearly €1 billion ($1.12 billion), with insurers recording €793 million ($889 million) in claims.

Among the cultural losses was the Jean-Macé Library in Metz, which was burned to the ground during the violence, destroying a significant collection of books and other materials.

Macron’s Repeated Failure Is Destroying France.

While President Macron has condemned the latest violence, blaming radical far-left groups and opportunistic criminals for exploiting demonstrations originally organized around education and living standards, he has done little to contain it. Some analysts have questioned whether organized extremists alone can explain the scale of the disorder, with some noting the broad leftist networks involved, many of which go well beyond France itself.

The French government has responded with additional policing and localized restrictions, including overnight curfews in parts of Paris. For Limoges, however, the consequences of the violence are already irreversible. A landmark that stood through two world wars is largely destroyed, with taxpayers expected to foot the bill for an expensive reconstruction or demolition.

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Britain’s Labour government is allowing thousands of migrants to secure de facto permanent residency every week by delaying promised immigration restrictions. Many are entered Britain as part of the Boriswave, a mass influx engineered by the former Conservative government following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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More than 200,000 legal migrants have reportedly received indefinite leave to remain (ILR) despite tougher settlement requirements being promised last year. Around 5,000 migrants are reportedly securing permanent settlement every week under existing arrangements, even as government ministers debate extending the standard qualifying period from five to ten years.

The Conservatives created the conditions for the surge in settlement by dramatically relaxing controls on legal immigration, disregarding their repeated pledges to substantially reduce it. Labour, despite promising to tighten the rules, has failed to implement reforms that could prevent hundreds of thousands of Boriswave arrivals from becoming de facto permanent residents.

The Tories Own the Boriswave.

Boris Johnson’s government introduced a new points-based immigration system in December 2020, supposedly to restore British control over immigration following Brexit. Instead, the Conservatives greatly expanded eligibility for foreign workers outside of the EU, lowered skills requirements for sponsored employment, uncapped student and work visas, and opened additional routes for lower-paid care workers and their dependants.

According to the Home Office’s own assessment of the settlement system, approximately 616,000 people entered Britain through the Health and Care visa route alone between 2022 and 2024, most of them dependants rather than the workers the scheme was supposedly designed to attract.

The Conservatives also expanded the “skilled” worker routes to occupations below graduate level. By the year ending June 2024, 53 percent of Skilled Worker visas issued to main applicants were for jobs below graduate-level skill requirements.

Brexit had been sold to voters as an opportunity to restore national control over Britain’s borders, including by Johnson himself. Instead, while Conservative ministers ended European “free movement” immigration, they introduced an uncapped points system that facilitated record levels of arrivals from outside the European Union, far larger than the decrease in EU immigration.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) subsequently revised its estimates of net migration, placing the peak at approximately 944,000 in the year ending March 2023.

Up to 2.2 Million Migrants Could Settle by 2030.

The Home Office’s official settlement forecasts estimate that between 1.3 million and 2.2 million migrants could obtain Indefinite Leave to Remain between 2026 and 2030 under projected settlement patterns. The department expects settlement grants to peak in 2028, when approximately 450,000 people could receive ILR. That would represent an average of more than 8,600 grants per week, nearly doubling the approximately 5,000 being reported now.

Much of the increase can be traced directly to decisions taken by Conservative ministers. The Home Office forecasts that approximately 462,000 people who originally entered through the Health and Care visa route could obtain ILR between 2026 and 2030. Another 306,000 are projected to settle after arriving through other Skilled Worker routes.

In 2028 alone, the department expects approximately 210,000 settlement grants to people who originally entered through the Health and Care route. The forecasts also include “family reunion” chaim migration, Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa holders, and others.

Labour’s Promised Crackdown Appears to Be a Mirage.

Labour initially proposed doubling the standard qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years as part of its immigration reforms. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined a more extensive system of earned settlement, under which applicants would have to demonstrate economic contribution, integration, and compliance with immigration requirements.

The government’s November 2025 consultation also proposed a 15-year qualifying period for certain lower-skilled workers, alongside longer periods for applicants whose circumstances trigger additional requirements. Mahmood has also proposed applying the changes to migrants already living in Britain who had not yet obtained ILR.

However, the proposal provoked opposition within Labour, with many Members of Parliament (MPs) lobbying against retrospectively changing the conditions for millions of foreign workers who are already in Britain. Open borders proponents and others say that migrants who arrived legally under the Conservative government’s rules should not have their settlement expectations overturned after years of residence.

The consultation closed in February 2026, but the central reforms remained unresolved as of October 19. Meanwhile, the settlement pipeline established by Johnson and his Conservative successors continues to operate.

The Long-Term Cost of the Conservative Immigration Experiment.

Permanent settlement does not automatically grant every recipient welfare payments, but it generally removes the immigration restrictions that prevent many temporary visa holders from accessing many public funds. ILR holders can become eligible for Universal Credit, social housing, and other benefits. They can also generally apply for British citizenship after meeting additional residence and eligibility requirements.

This raises questions about the long-term fiscal consequences of the Conservatives’ decision to expand immigration through low-paid employment routes. A Home Office fiscal assessment of care workers and their adult dependants examines how earnings, tax contributions, public services, and welfare expenditure affect the lifetime fiscal impact of this category of migration.

Meanwhile, government figures reported in September showed that households containing at least one foreign national received approximately £11.9 billion ($15.86 billion) in Universal Credit during 2025, up from £9.5 billion ($12.66 billion) in 2024.

Labour’s proposed restrictions would delay settlement for many applicants, potentially postponing their access to certain benefits. However, the final fiscal impact will depend on which migrants are covered, what transitional arrangements are introduced, and how settlement affects their employment and tax contributions.

Britain’s Immigration Crisis Is a Failure of the Entire Establishment.

Labour’s hesitation over settlement reform presents an opportunity for Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party, but the Boriswave is fundamentally a legacy of the Conservative government. Their post-Brexit immigration system admitted unprecedented numbers of foreign nationals, many on pathways that could eventually lead to indefinite leave to remain.

Labour inherited that system and has now spent months debating how to change it, while thousands continue securing settlement under the existing rules.

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