Nigel Farage visits Dudley as Richard Tice pledges to end net zero ‘madness’ to reindustrialise Britain
Richard Tice has used a major policy speech to outline Reform UK’s plans to “reindustrialise Britain” and set up a “game-changer” sovereign wealth fund which could own British Steel.
Speaking at a steel stockholding business in Dudley, West Midlands, on Tuesday, the Boston and Skegness MP set out his party’s plans to set up a business, trade and energy “super department” that also covers housing.
Mr Tice, who was named as the party’s business, trade and energy spokesman last week, said the new department would reduce energy costs, scrap net zero “madness” and change course on renters’ rights legislation.
Mr Tice said of Britain’s current economic growth rates: “We are now becoming unproductive and our economy is flatlining – and that’s why we have to have a completely different approach.
“I think we all know that our economy is broken.”
Highlighting proposed changes to regulations, trade policy and energy, Mr Tice added: “On trade we’ve got to be relentless pursuing the British national interest.
“Are we really seriously willing to let that be decimated by the growth of Chinese electric vehicles coming in and taking our jobs? I would suggest absolutely not.
“I would suggest we need to be courageous and say we need to bring in tight quotas and significant tariffs, as we have seen other nations do.”
Pledging a Great Repeal Act, repealing laws that are against the UK’s strategic national interest, Mr Tice said a “huge” new sovereign wealth fund under a Reform UK government would invest in energy and other critical sectors.
“We all know that to be a rich nation, you have to have cheap, plentiful energy,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Maximising oil and gas production like Britain did in the past, Mr Tice said, would see “energy treasure from under our feet” used to reduce bills and cut the cost of living.
“What about being patriotic about it?” Mr Tice continued.
“What about saying Lincolnshire gas for Lincolnshire jobs for Lincolnshire growth; Yorkshire gas for Yorkshire jobs for Yorkshire growth?
“It’s our patriotic duty to use our energy treasure.”
He added that the party’s proposed sovereign wealth fund provided an opportunity to invest in critical national assets and “could actually own British steel” – helping to reline its remaining blast furnaces ready for the next 60 years.
“This is such a huge opportunity… it’s an absolute game-changer,” Mr Tice said of the proposed fund.
Appearing alongside party leader Nigel Farage, Mr Tice said: “This is the way forward.
“If we do this we can make our families more prosperous, we can make our communities more prosperous and our country more prosperous.”
Speaking after Mr Tice’s speech, Mr Farage said Britain needed to think about regulations more sensibly, particularly when it came to building projects, and about the hurt caused to businesses by high energy costs.
He said of Mr Tice’s speech: “What he’s talked about is this £500 billion that’s in pension funds for councils up and down the country.
“He said it’s being badly managed. They’re paying too higher fees. It’s not overall benefiting Britain very much. And his concept is to bring it together and manage it as a sovereign wealth fund, and to try and invest more in British businesses and in new industries.”
Mr Farage continued: “In the last few years, the energy prices have made it almost impossible for us to be a primary steel producer. We’re just hanging on in Scunthorpe.”
A sovereign wealth fund would not be there to “prop up lame ducks” but to look for business opportunities with a strong degree of national interest, he said.
Responding after the speech, the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association’s chief executive James Alexander warned that proposals to force pension schemes to invest in the UK ran the risk of distorting markets and creating asset bubbles.
He said: “They could also lead to lower returns for savers, at a time when shortfalls in retirement pots have left a whole generation facing a later-life income crisis.
“If policymakers want to unlock the power of pension capital, their focus should be on building a strong pipeline of investment opportunities that can help fund our high-growth areas, such as the clean energy sector.”
Friends of the Earth’s head of policy Mike Childs said: “If Reform truly wants to back Britain, they should back the UK’s vast homegrown renewable power – alongside a nationwide programme of home insulation – which would deliver real energy security.
“Solar and onshore wind are now far cheaper than new gas or nuclear, cutting bills as well as emissions.
“The only winners from rolling back climate action are polluters, billionaires and the vested interests cashing in on fossil fuels.
“Everyone else is left to foot the bill.”
John Flesher, director of the Conservative Environment Network, said: “Claiming that it is our patriotic duty to permit fracking in Lincolnshire is farcical.
“Even if the ban on fracking were lifted, there remain significant obstacles in the form of massive community opposition and a lack of investor confidence.
“And even if fracking does commence, it would do nothing to cut Britain’s scandalously high energy bills.
“Fracking is a distraction from the real problems our country faces.”
