Farage regrets move to run ‘bankrupt’ council
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93wv0ylq9yo
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said he wishes the party “hadn’t bothered” to take minority control of Worcestershire County Council, because of its financial problems.
The Reform-led authority recently approved a council tax rise of almost 9%, one of the largest in its history, in a bid to balance its books and avoid effective bankruptcy amid a budget shortfall.
When questioned about the decision to increase tax, which is higher than the standard 5% normally allowed, Farage said the party had inherited the council and “didn’t make it bankrupt”.
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A Reform UK spokesman, addressing Farage’s comments, said the party had “stepped up” and had done its “civic duty”.
He added: “Despite inheriting a catastrophic mess from the Tories and a council that had to be propped up by government bailouts, our team has fought hard to deliver a responsible budget and avoid raising council tax to the maximum.”
Reform UK, which had previously pledged to cut tax during its election campaign, took over leadership of the authority from the Conservatives following the local elections in May, but has no overall majority.
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Article continues at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93wv0ylq9yo
War on Iran shows that economies are vulnerable to oil shocks
Responding to the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) finding that the cost of Net Zero is less than the cost of the 2022 Ukraine oil price shock, the Green Party has today said we need to transition to clean energy as quickly as possible to protect people and the economy from future oil shocks.
Contrary to Reform UK’s unfounded claims about the cost of Net Zero, the CCC has today confirmed that the benefits of Net Zero outweigh the costs: “for every £1 spent there will be £2 to £4 in benefits” they conclude.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said “Our dependency on fossil fuels is a strategic vulnerability for the UK – as evidenced by the war between Russia and Ukraine and the now the war on Iran. We need to make the transition to clean energy as fast as we can to protect people and our economy from the price shocks and instability that come when oil prices spike.”
Green Party MP Carla Denyer, who leads on energy security and net zero, said “This report makes a compelling case: that cutting carbon emissions makes sense for our economy, as well as for the safety of our climate.
“The numbers speak for themselves – investing in Net Zero pays dividends, avoiding the billions of pounds in climate damages that we would face as the cost of not acting, while also giving us warmer homes, cheaper bills, cleaner air and healthier lives for us and future generations.”
Reaching net zero by 2050 ‘cheaper for UK than one fossil fuel crisis’
Climate change committee finds move to renewable energy would also bring health, economic and security benefits
Achieving the UK’s net zero target by 2050 will cost less than a single oil shock and bring health and economic benefits while insulating the country against future costs, the government’s climate advisers have forecast.
Eliminating the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels by adopting renewable energy and green technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, would be the best and most cost-effective option for the future economy, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) found.
Doing so would prevent the kind of shock that consumers are experiencing from the Iran war, which has sent the cost of oil and gas soaring to levels not seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Reaching net zero would cost about £4bn a year, the CCC found, or close to £100bn by 2050, which was roughly equivalent to the energy-related costs of the fossil fuel shocks that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The findings contradict widespread claims made by rightwing thinktanks and populist politicians including the Reform party that net zero would represent a crippling cost of £9tn to the UK’s economy. As well as exaggerating costs, these estimates failed to take into account the cost of paying for the fossil fuels needed for energy if we do not reach net zero.
Nigel Topping, chair of the CCC, said the real costs were not only manageable but offered protection against future fossil fuel supply crunches and against the impacts of the climate crisis. “In light of current world events, it’s more important than ever for the UK to move away from being reliant on volatile foreign fossil fuels, to clean, domestic, less wasteful energy,” he said.
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/11/reaching-net-zero-by-2050-cheaper-for-uk-than-one-fossil-fuel-crisis
Zack Polanski: I predict a Green wave in the local elections. Anyone who thinks our byelection win was an outlier is mistaken
Since the Gorton and Denton victory, I have travelled the UK and seen the energy that result unleashed. More will follow
This week, I sat in the gallery of the House of Commons and watched a historic moment unfold: Hannah Spencer was sworn in as the MP for Gorton and Denton, making her the first female plumber to sit in parliament, and the first ever Green MP in the north of England.
It marked the start of a new era: for Gorton and Denton, for the Green party and for British politics across the board. It’s not hyperbole to say that our win – in a seat that was 127th on our target list – has changed everything.
A major poll this week proves this, showing that people intend to vote Green at the next election in higher numbers than ever. We have leapfrogged Labour in the polls and are nipping at Reform UK’s heels – because people can see that we are the only party genuinely taking the fight to Reform and spelling out clearly how we’ll end rip-off Britain.
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We’ll lower bills by bringing water into public ownership and ending shareholder profiteering. We’ll tackle inflation and the cost of living at the same time with sensible measures such as rent controls. And by taxing the wealth of the super-rich fairly, we can ensure that money flows through our economy rather than being hoarded in assets or offshore accounts.
These are popular, commonsense ideas. For a long time, voters have enthusiastically backed the Green party’s policies – but have often stopped short of supporting us at the ballot box, afraid to “waste” their vote. We saw that change in Gorton and Denton – and that result unlocked a new level of confidence for potential Green voters that they can truly vote for what they want and get it.
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See the original article at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/07/predict-green-party-wave-zack-polanski-local-elections-byelection-win
Zack Polanski is leader of the Green party of England and Wales.
