Tony Blair U-turns on net zero attack and insists Labour approach is right
Sir Tony Blair has performed a dramatic U-turn following his attack on the government’s net zero policies as the row threatened to derail Labour policies.
The former prime minister had warned that energy secretary Ed Miliband’s eco policies and their push towards renewable energy were wrong because voters know the financial and lifestyle sacrifices needed to meet government pledges will have virtually no impact on climate change.
His criticism in a foreword of a report for his Tony Blair Institute (TBI) fuelled fury over high energy costs exacerbating the cost of living crisis and damaging economic growth by piling on costs of businesses and manufacturers.
But in a reversal on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the TBI insisted that Sir Tony supports the current government’s policies.
The spokeswoman said: “The TBI report is clear: we must prioritise technologies which capture carbon, place a bigger emphasis on protecting and enhancing nature, and develop new nuclear power, smart grids, and a new system of financing existing renewable solutions in developing economies. The UK government is already pursuing these, and their approach is the right one.”
She added: “The report is clear we support the government’s 2050 net zero targets, to give certainty to the investors and innovators who can develop these new solutions and make them deployable.”
The U-turn comes less than 24 hours before voters go to the polls in the local elections and Runcorn by-election in the first major electoral test of Sir Keir Starmer’s government since last year’s election. Downing Street was asked whether officials scrambled to secure the clarification from Mr Blair’s think tank and did not deny it.
Kemi Badenoch’s official spokesman told journalists “she enjoyed the fact that barely five minutes out from PMQs the Tony Blair Institute felt it fit to release that statement”.
Sir Tony had called for more investment in carbon capture, which sees carbon removed from the air, to allow fossil fuels to continue to be used, a greater use of technology including artificial intelligence, and a rollout of nuclear power.
The ex-PM claimed voters “feel they’re being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know the impact of global emissions is minimal”.
His intervention on Tuesday came as the Climate Change Committee (CCC) warned the UK is critically unprepared for the escalating climate crisis and accused the government of not doing enough in the face of impending floods, heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires.
It enabled Sir Keir to claim during PMQs that his predecessor is “absolutely aligned” with his government.
Responding to DUP MP Sammy Wilson, Sir Keir replied: “What Tony Blair said is we should have more carbon capture, we’ve invested in carbon capture. That’s many jobs across different parts of the country.
“He said that AI (artificial intelligence) should be used, we agree with that. We’ve invested huge amounts in AI and the jobs of the future. He also said we need domestic targets so that businesses have their certainty.
“If you look at the detail of what Tony Blair said, he’s absolutely aligned with what we’re doing here, these are the jobs and the security of the future.”
The attempt to cool down the row, came after environment secretary Steve Reed earlier on Wednesday admitted that Sir Tony’s criticisms of net zero policies were “valid and important”.
Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Reed disagreed with a government source who accused for ex-PM of “having a public tantrum” and said that Sir Tony “is making a valid and important contribution to a very significant debate that we’re having”.
He went on: “I agree with much of what he said, but not absolutely every word and dot and comma of it. But this government is moving to clean energy because it’s best for Britain. It’s more energy security for Britain. It’s jobs and investment right across the United Kingdom. And those are all things we all want to see.”
It was a very different tone to the one used by sources close to Mr Miliband who was seen as the main target of Sir Tony’s ire.
The ally of the energy secretary said: “We’ve just won an election in part on an argument that we need to speed up the clean energy transition. The PM said last week that clean energy is in the DNA of the government.”
But despite appearing to disagree with Mr Miliband’s hardline, Mr Reed defended the government’s actions.
This includes 78 per cent tax on energy profits pushing up the price of energy, stopping drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, and closing down coal mines. Instead, Mr Miliband has greenlighted massive solar and wind farms as renewable alternatives.
Mr Reed said: “The reason we’re asking people to take that action is because it breaks our dependency on fossil fuels and the likes of Vladimir Putin. Why should anybody that cares about the security of the United Kingdom want us to remain dependent on fossil fuel dictators?
“We want to take back control of our energy, generate more of it at home because it gives us more energy security as well as lowering prices.”
Meanwhile, Sir Tony’s former political secretary denied his claims put him at odds with Mr Miliband, adding that his views “totally align with Ed Miliband’s current policies”.
John McTernan told Times Radio: “Labour are toast… this election has nothing to do with net zero.“There’s nothing that can be done in the next 24 hours that can change the election results.
“You look at all the focus groups, if you go to any of them, what do people associate the Labour Party with? Taking winter fuel payments away from pensioners. Why are they attacking pensioners? Why are they now attacking the disabled? That’s what people are saying. It’s on the doorstep in Runcorn. It’s on the doorstep everywhere.”
Elon Musk no longer working from White House, chief of staff reveals
Elon Musk is no longer working from the White House, Donald Trump’s chief of staff has revealed.
The president’s so-called First Buddy has been a looming presence during Trump’s first 100 days back in office. But earlier this month the Tesla CEO said he would be spending more time working on his troubled car company.
Now Susie Wiles has said that Musk is “not as present as he was” – physically at least.
“Instead of meeting with him in person, I’m talking to him on the phone, but it’s the same net effect,” Wiles told The New York Post in an interview.
Musk, who poured billions of dollars into Trump’s presidential campaign, “hasn’t been here physically, but it really doesn’t matter much,” she added.
Wiles insisted that his DOGE team “aren’t going anywhere” as they plow on with spending-cut efforts in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the West Wing.
“He’s not out of it altogether. He’s just not physically present as much as he was,” she stressed.
“The people that are doing this work are here doing good things and paying attention to the details.
“He’ll be stepping back a little, but he’s certainly not abandoning it. And his people are definitely not.”
Musk is officially due to step down from his DOGE role in May.
The Tesla billionaire has been operating for the White House as an “unpaid special government employee” when he created the Department of Government Efficiency, which is technically a non-official government department. This means he is not allowed to work for more than 130 days in a year for the government, as the BBC reported.
According to The Washington Post, the X billionaire was becoming “tired” of politics and what he deemed a litany of attacks on him from the left.
During his tenure at Trump’s side, Musk has not been shy of bizarre publicity stunts. In February he brandished a chainsaw – handed to him by Argentinian President, Javier Milei – at a rally and screamed “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy”.
But his political role has not come without cost. Tesla has suffered a spate of arson attacks across the globe, with protests in various cities rallying against his views.
On April 22 just after Tesla’s stock price closed at $237.97, Tesla revealed that its first-quarter earnings had dropped by 71 per cent from its corresponding value a year before.
So far DOGE has axed at least 58,486 jobs, and nearly 150,000 more are expected, according to analysis from the New York Times. It noted that some of the employees who had been fired had been temporarily reinstated following court orders.
Trump congratulates Carney even as White House repeats ‘51st state’ taunt
The White House has taunted Mark Carney over Donald Trump’s desire to turn Canada into America’s 51st state, saying a remarkable election result does not change that plan – even as Mr Trump himself congratulated the Canadian prime minister on his victory.
Mr Carney’s Liberal Party won following a campaign dominated by the US president’s trade war, but short of gaining an outright majority in parliament which will force Mr Carney to seek the backing of at least one minor party.
During a phone call, Mr Trump congratulated Mr Carney and the pair “agreed on the importance of Canada and the United States working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for their mutual betterment”, according to the Canadian prime minister’s office.
The two leaders also agreed to meet in person in the near future.
Yet at the same time, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that the election “does not affect President Trump’s plan to make Canada America’s cherished 51st state”.
In his victory speech in Ottawa, Mr Carney declared that Mr Trump “is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never happen.”
Family of three died during mass power cut in Spain
Spanish police in Galicia are investigating the deaths of three people in the town of Taboadela, as the fatalities from the power cut across Spain and Portugal begin to emerge.
A spokeswoman said the bodies of “a couple and their son” were found inside their home on Tuesday morning.
Officers and forensic experts are in vestigating whether the family, who reportedly inhaled carbon monoxide, died as a result of a malfunctioning domestic generator or a fuel appliance.
A woman also died during the blackout from a fire caused by a candle in her flat in Madrid.
Power has now been restored to tens of millions of people after fears it would take up to a week to fully reinstate the power supply.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has vowed to find the cause of the power cuts as the cause remains unclear.
Sanchez held an emergency meeting with private grid operators to ask them to work with the government and independent bodies to get to the bottom of what caused the incident.
He said: “We must undertake the necessary improvements to guarantee the supply and future competitiveness of our system.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan leads talented Si in World Championship quarter-final
Ronnie O’Sullivan is already in control of his record-extending 23rd World Snooker Championship quarter-final against Si Jiahui as ‘The Rocket’ continues his bid for a history-making eighth world title.
O’Sullivan wasted little time in securing a routine 13-4 win over Pang Junxu in the second round at the Crucible Theatre and led talented youngster Si, who shockingly made the semi-finals here in 2023 at the age of just 20, 6-2 after their first session on Tuesday afternoon before holding on to that advantage and leading 10-6 after Wednesday morning’s session.
Now 22, the Chinese star has established himself in the top 16 but a best-of-25 clash against the greatest snooker player of all time still represents a huge challenge for the fearless potter and he has a job on his hands to overturn the four-frame deficit in their final session from 7pm this evening.
Wednesday’s 10am session also featured O’Sullivan’s fellow ‘Class of 92’ veterans John Higgins and Mark Williams playing to a finish in their quarter-final. The pair were locked at 8-8 following an intriguing first two sessions and Williams moved 12-8 ahead before Higgins roared back to force a decider. It came down to the final black and Welshman Williams prevailed to win 13-12.
Follow all the scores, results and latest updates from the World Snooker Championship below: