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When Labour won its landslide victory last year, it promised nothing less than national renewal.
A fairer, greener, more prosperous United Kingdom.
But fast forward to this week, and we’re witnessing yet another promise quietly tossed aside.
The latest betrayal is Labour’s decision to exempt more than 7,000 energy-intensive companies from paying green energy levies, effectively letting them off funding the country’s transition to Net Zero — while smaller businesses and everyday consumers are left holding the bill.
Once hailed as a climate-forward alternative to the Conservatives, Labour now appears to be running the same old playbook: tax breaks for big business, warm words for the public, and nothing concrete for the sectors that truly power communities — like pubs, cafés, and shops.
Six books are gone – 44 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
From £28 billion to industry handouts
This did not happen overnight.
Labour’s commitment to tackling climate change has been on a slow drip-feed retreat since before that party entered government.
Back in June 2023, Labour quietly watered down its signature £28 billion-a-year Green Prosperity Plan, citing fiscal responsibility.
By early 2024, the actual amount of new green funding was estimated to be less than £5 billion a year — a fraction of the original promise.
And now, in June 2025, we’ve hit the next stage in the climbdown: removing green energy levies from the companies most responsible for high energy use.
These levies were designed to support renewables, grid stability, and long-term Net Zero goals.
With this move, Labour is choosing to gut that funding system — not in favour of the climate, but in favour of corporate interests.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Who pays? Not big business.
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, due to begin in 2027, promises up to 25 per cent reductions on electricity bills for heavy industries.
That’s around £40 per megawatt-hour — achieved by slashing charges that fund green infrastructure and backup supply.
At the same time, the British Industry Supercharger scheme — which already gives 60 per cent discounts to steel, chemicals, and glassmakers — will be boosted to 90 per cent by 2026.
And who pays for the gap?
Not those businesses.
Not the government.
Everyone else.
This is a straight cost-shift: from the biggest, dirtiest, richest users to the small and medium enterprises already struggling to stay afloat.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
The death of the High Street, funded by Labour
Among the most shamefully ignored in Labour’s new “industrial strategy” are the very sectors that define local life and prosperity — hospitality and retail.
Despite employing more than seven million people, these sectors were left out entirely of Labour’s energy relief measures.
That means cafés, restaurants, small shops, and especially pubs, are being asked to keep paying full green levies — while large industrial players get a taxpayer-subsidised discount.
As I’ve argued before, hospitality is the barometer of a country’s wellbeing.
When the pubs are full, the tills are ringing, and people are out and about — that’s a sign of economic health.
When they’re shuttered, struggling, or gone altogether? That’s when alarm bells should ring.
This policy all but guarantees more closures, more empty high streets, and more jobs lost in the very communities Labour claims to be rebuilding.
Net Zero In Name Only
We must now ask the uncomfortable question: what will remain of Labour’s Net Zero plan by 2050?
At this pace, not much.
With every compromise — first the investment cuts, now the funding exemptions — Labour is hollowing out the financial and moral backbone of its green agenda.
Party representatives still talk a good game on clean energy, but every action speaks louder: when push comes to shove, the planet takes a back seat to profits.
Even the much-lauded increase in research and development spending or investment in artificial intelligence will mean little if the green transition itself is underfunded and politically sidelined.
Same betrayal, different label
The nickname “LINO” — Labour In Name Only — was once a barbed jibe from critics on its left flank. But it’s beginning to stick.
From workers’ rights to public ownership to climate policy, Labour is retreating from nearly every principle the party once claimed to hold.
And now, with Net Zero In Name Only, it risks squandering its last big moral commitment.
This government didn’t inherit the climate crisis — but it is starting to own the decisions that will define it.
Six books are gone – 44 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
Who’s really being protected?
Big industry? Shielded.
Small business? Penalised.
Hospitality? Ignored.
The climate? Undermined.
The public? Patronised.
If Labour can’t even defend the principle that polluters should pay, then it’s not just Net Zero that’s under threat — it’s the entire social contract.
What kind of green future are we building, if the road to it is lined with broken promises – and boarded-up pubs?
Share this post:
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Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Net Zero In Name Only – Labour’s green policies face the same betrayal as all the others
Share this post:
When Labour won its landslide victory last year, it promised nothing less than national renewal.
A fairer, greener, more prosperous United Kingdom.
But fast forward to this week, and we’re witnessing yet another promise quietly tossed aside.
The latest betrayal is Labour’s decision to exempt more than 7,000 energy-intensive companies from paying green energy levies, effectively letting them off funding the country’s transition to Net Zero — while smaller businesses and everyday consumers are left holding the bill.
Once hailed as a climate-forward alternative to the Conservatives, Labour now appears to be running the same old playbook: tax breaks for big business, warm words for the public, and nothing concrete for the sectors that truly power communities — like pubs, cafés, and shops.
Six books are gone – 44 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
From £28 billion to industry handouts
This did not happen overnight.
Labour’s commitment to tackling climate change has been on a slow drip-feed retreat since before that party entered government.
Back in June 2023, Labour quietly watered down its signature £28 billion-a-year Green Prosperity Plan, citing fiscal responsibility.
By early 2024, the actual amount of new green funding was estimated to be less than £5 billion a year — a fraction of the original promise.
And now, in June 2025, we’ve hit the next stage in the climbdown: removing green energy levies from the companies most responsible for high energy use.
These levies were designed to support renewables, grid stability, and long-term Net Zero goals.
With this move, Labour is choosing to gut that funding system — not in favour of the climate, but in favour of corporate interests.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Who pays? Not big business.
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, due to begin in 2027, promises up to 25 per cent reductions on electricity bills for heavy industries.
That’s around £40 per megawatt-hour — achieved by slashing charges that fund green infrastructure and backup supply.
At the same time, the British Industry Supercharger scheme — which already gives 60 per cent discounts to steel, chemicals, and glassmakers — will be boosted to 90 per cent by 2026.
And who pays for the gap?
Not those businesses.
Not the government.
Everyone else.
This is a straight cost-shift: from the biggest, dirtiest, richest users to the small and medium enterprises already struggling to stay afloat.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
The death of the High Street, funded by Labour
Among the most shamefully ignored in Labour’s new “industrial strategy” are the very sectors that define local life and prosperity — hospitality and retail.
Despite employing more than seven million people, these sectors were left out entirely of Labour’s energy relief measures.
That means cafés, restaurants, small shops, and especially pubs, are being asked to keep paying full green levies — while large industrial players get a taxpayer-subsidised discount.
As I’ve argued before, hospitality is the barometer of a country’s wellbeing.
When the pubs are full, the tills are ringing, and people are out and about — that’s a sign of economic health.
When they’re shuttered, struggling, or gone altogether? That’s when alarm bells should ring.
This policy all but guarantees more closures, more empty high streets, and more jobs lost in the very communities Labour claims to be rebuilding.
Net Zero In Name Only
We must now ask the uncomfortable question: what will remain of Labour’s Net Zero plan by 2050?
At this pace, not much.
With every compromise — first the investment cuts, now the funding exemptions — Labour is hollowing out the financial and moral backbone of its green agenda.
Party representatives still talk a good game on clean energy, but every action speaks louder: when push comes to shove, the planet takes a back seat to profits.
Even the much-lauded increase in research and development spending or investment in artificial intelligence will mean little if the green transition itself is underfunded and politically sidelined.
Same betrayal, different label
The nickname “LINO” — Labour In Name Only — was once a barbed jibe from critics on its left flank. But it’s beginning to stick.
From workers’ rights to public ownership to climate policy, Labour is retreating from nearly every principle the party once claimed to hold.
And now, with Net Zero In Name Only, it risks squandering its last big moral commitment.
This government didn’t inherit the climate crisis — but it is starting to own the decisions that will define it.
Six books are gone – 44 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
Who’s really being protected?
Big industry? Shielded.
Small business? Penalised.
Hospitality? Ignored.
The climate? Undermined.
The public? Patronised.
If Labour can’t even defend the principle that polluters should pay, then it’s not just Net Zero that’s under threat — it’s the entire social contract.
What kind of green future are we building, if the road to it is lined with broken promises – and boarded-up pubs?
Share this post:
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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