Nigel Lawson’s warning over climate change and Net Zero costs needs heeding – The Yorkshire Post says

Yet this should not exempt the former Chancellor from speaking out on the issue – especially given his first-hand experience of government when Margaret Thatcher was in power in the 1980s.

Now Lord Lawson, he remains acutely aware how quickly public goodwill and opinion will be alienated by measures like the replacement of gas boilers with electric heat pumps – a policy that could cost each household £20,000.

However, while the Prime Minister appears to have jettisoned the idea for now as the build-up to the COP26 summit becomes a power struggle between Cabinet Minister Alok Sharma and Mr Johnson’s unelected advisor Allegra Stratton, it would be wise of him to heed the candid words of Lord Lawson in today’s edition.

Not only does the Government need to explore the benefits that a small modular nuclear programme would bring to the wider strategy of decarbonisation, but policy-making needs to be more collaborative and challenging from the outset.

Collaborative to stop the unhelpful tendency of Ministers making policy on the hoof; challenging because potential policies need to be thoroughly tested and scrutinised before they reach the implementation phase.

If not, the outcome, Lord Lawson forecasts, will be the same – more U-turns and the further erosion of public trust at a critical time in the climate fight.

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