The Realignment of British Politics & Net-Zero | IEA Podcast

FOLLOW IEA INSIDER: insider.iea.or...
The latest IEA Podcast tackles some of the most pressing issues in British politics today. Hosted by Executive Director Tom Clougherty, this episode dives into the zero-emission vehicle mandate and the broader push towards net zero, questioning the feasibility and costs of these ambitious goals. Joining Tom are Dr. Kristian Niemietz and Dr. Stephen Davies, who provide their insights into the policies shaping Britain's environmental future.
The discussion then shifts to the ongoing realignment in British politics and what it means for the right and classical liberalism. With a Labour landslide that failed to ignite enthusiasm and persistent dissatisfaction among voters, the team explores how identity, economics, and ideology are reshaping political coalitions. This analysis offers a fresh perspective on how shifting priorities could redefine political alignments.
Finally, the podcast casts a wide net over the current state of British politics, reflecting on the peculiar challenges and opportunities facing the country. From governmental missteps to structural challenges, the conversation cuts through surface-level commentary to examine the fundamental principles driving these debates.
Our goal, as always, is to bring you a current affairs podcast with a difference. We want to go beyond the headlines and the shallow political commentary you may hear elsewhere and instead focus on the big ideas and underlying principles that matter to classical liberals.
Labour Party Politics: 01:29
Political Realignment: 24:07
Net-Zero: 43:58
SUBSTACK - insider.iea.or...
TWITTER - / iealondon​​
INSTAGRAM - / ​​
FACEBOOK - / ieauk​​
WEBSITE - iea.org.uk/

[@hugor1338]

Having a policy for carbon emissions in the UK that doesn't notice that nobody outside Europe intends to do any of it seems particularly onanistic and self-indulgent.

[@castropianoforte]

Agreed. It's all pointless.

[@anirudhanagarajan7530]

Canada is the only one and it’s been a train wreck. They need allow for companies to come up with solutions organically

[@Stafford674]

The more imortant issue is the state of the Labour Party. The Centre Left have a problem. Everything that they have campaigned for in the past e.g welfare state, national health service, universal education has been achieved. Most of their economic ideas (Economic planning, growth through budget deficits), nationalised industries have been abandoned. So what is left for them to do? Manage a welfare system and join any bandwagon that captures their interest. There is no underlying set of principles that can guide them in the direction of policies. What makes it worse for this government compared to Tony Blair is that thanks to Covid and the incompetence of the Tories since 2016, there isn't even any money left. . They have no direction as they have no principles, beliefs or clear ideas of what society should be. This leaves them ripe for take over by the Marxist elements. The instruments of oppression necessary to keep a Marxist government in power are all in place Freedom of speech is a thing of the past thanks to Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak). The Police and the judiciary are fully politicised. I give Starmer 18 months before he is pitched from power and replaced. Soon after that the speakers on this Podcast will be living in fear of imrisonment for disinformation, islamophobia, racism, hate crimes etc etc.

[@kayedal-haddad]

So true! One thing that was most striking about Labour’s General Election campaign was the lack of vision for the country.

[@nigelgordon4329]

When you impose high cost energy on pensioners by chasing net zero ideology then cutting a subsidy to help these most vulnerable people isn’t the the right thing to do.

[@robinjones5169]

The high cost of energy is a result of us buying expensive gas on a global market. The price you pay is not reflective of the cost of the energy makeup used. It is based on our 1989 system of buying electricity on the basis of marginal pricing, buying all of it at the cost of the most expensive medium, which because of the energy crisis was gas.

[@user-nx6ji9tk8i]

Staggered that we are still being told that intermittent renewables are a replacement for our electricity needs. They are additions to our increase in demand. Still seeking alternative solutions for baseload on electricity generation. We continue to be dependent on LNG to keep the lights on ( and all computer systems running ) There is a blind spot on 80% total energy demand for the power needs for heating, transport, industry, manufacture and production of ‘stuff’. Politicians and policy makers need to talk to physicists and engineers.

[@robinjones5169]

I'm a chemical and renewable energy engineer. We have not been doing enough to hit our net zero targets.

[@advocate1563]

This week's These Times with Tom and Helen is FASCINATING, mapping NZ to the 1960s.and 1970s. Worth watching.alongside this. .

[@cavewebster]

Come on, boys - put on a suit :)

[@frankbrennan1619]

Lefty mufti day.

[@user-nx6ji9tk8i]

And sit up straight. Those backs!

[@just_another32]

great podcast fellas

[@adodgygeeza]

The people who come up with reasons why EVs won't work are people either against them (or progress) or just against the incentives to buy one. (IEA) The problem with EVs for the IEA is that they are an example where government planning can give massive advantages.The Chinese have used their central planning abilities to identify that EVs would allow them to crack the car market by making incumbents skills mostly irrelevant.

[@cadmdhpro8779]

The point for the chinese was mostly to make Europe pay for the electrification of their own car pool. They lack lng/pipeline routes for sufficient supply of it for the country's own consumption.

[@adodgygeeza]

The expense of charging points.... stay in your lane politics boy. Tesla built their charging network with the revenue of the first generation of EVs. You need about 1;fast charger per 400 cars, or or precisely the same as for petrol pumps. The rest of the infrastructure is basically already built out as it's just the domestic grid.

[@tewman4943]

Thank god Trump is coming to save us all! Go to China and spout your crap about carbon reduction.

[@francollins4036]

I agree.

[@stoyanpanchev664]

More Steven Davies please!

[@CristinaDaniel-e2i]

Yes, to the stolen bike! They investigate people swearing online though because you can be a desk detective😅

[@MZig-rw7su]

UK’s emissions are insignificant compared to the rest of the world. Uk governments gave their own citizens the most expensive priced energy in the world. Self sufficient in North sea oil and gas and coal the UK could allow it's own people to benefit from their own assets at cost prices. This would unleash huge investment in industry creating well paid jobs and a consumer boom. The country would become hugely wealthy. But NO. Nastiness prevails. Nastiness against the British people by a rich elite.

[@robinjones5169]

What an absolutely terrible argument. If all the countries below 2% were to combine they would be a bigger source of carbon than China. We are in a climate crisis. You can't just ignore that.

[@karlstone6011]

16:20 Promising 1.5m homes in this Parliamentary term, the Labour manifesto implied that they'd obviate the planning system and developers that generally, deliver somewhere between a third and a half of that amount over 5 years. What I'd like to see is a self-funding house building program; wherein government would buy up poor quality terraced housing sold off by Thatcher in the 1980's - knock it down, and build more and better housing on the same site. They'd sell some back onto the market to cover costs, and keep some for social housing. They'd use modular manufacturing and just in time delivery to minimise the skills requirement and disruption to local communities. Otherwise, we'll be stuck with over-valued rabbit hutches for another 100 years, or until the sky catches fire! Labour should also come down hard on tax avoidance by the wealthy - rather than thrashing the sick. And they should seek global agreement to develop Magma Energy, proven viable by Nasa/Sandia Labs in 1982, rather than sign a blank cheque for wind power that will all need replacing in 20 years - like painting the forth bridge, we'll be building windmills forever, and it will never be sufficient to our needs, and nor will it solve climate change globally. Magma Energy can.

[@misteroz]

Deeply concerning that only 20% of the population believe in both reducing immigration *and* that the Welfare State should be a safety net rather than a hammock…

[@thamesmud]

"Removing bottlenecks to growth"... But everything they have done his killed growth.

[@MrNiuj]

Everything on the feasibility of net zero is well off the mark.

[@adodgygeeza]

Oh dear, IEA the world's most innovative and imaginative engineers can't work out how to live fossil free, must be impossible. Doubtless 10 years ago they'd be saying reusable rockets done make sense. Re: long haul aviation. 1: It's a pretty unimportant mode of transport, we could just let it be unabated. 2: Look at actual door to door times, it ends up being an average speed of 200-300mph to cross the Atlantic, ergo if you smoothed out other bits of the journey you could replicate the journey with a much slower and shorter range electric aircraft than needs to recharge..

[@mark4asp]

How does IEA propose government with "more faith in the public"? Exactly what policy changes will deliver it? Seriously folks: listening to talking heads talk is not very entertaining. I would be more entertaibned listening you you debate the pros and cons of introducing Swiss democracy to the UK, or some other expicit policy which delivers "more faith in the public".

[@kayedal-haddad]

Dress down Friday?

[@md8850-j7s]

Disappointed to hear the IEA sneering at those 3m people signing the election petition as people in a pub in Essex and Reform voters.

[@misteroz]

Indeed! I can’t speak for the chap who started the petition, but a great many of us know full well that it won’t trigger a General Election - we just want our contempt for Starmer formally and permanently recorded in Hansard.

[@martinoconnor923]

And when historians look back on this period and Starmer a registered petition with that amount of signatures will be looked at …..

[@jimballantine4408]

Alas but after all they are 'clever' are they not?

[@stephenford8649]

But globalism vs. nationalism also has an economic (vs. identarian) dimension. Indeed, globalists' entire pitch is the economic case.

[@advocate1563]

Economics counts for little when you no longer feel safe in.your home, personal or national.

[@alex.hansford]

The net zero bit was mostly tripe unfortunately. The problem is COST, not technology. Most cars & vans can already be fully electric, the problem is that consumers and businesses aren't prepared to pay extra for it or accommodate any change to their way of life (like driving a bit less, or spending an extra 20 mins at the fuel station). In that environment, how can we possibly expect EVs and Net Zero to succeed?

[@frankbrennan1619]

Nut zero really is ''tripe'' as you so delicately put it & particularly for the financially poor....

[@theant9821]

the problem is both cost and technology, just because EV exist doesn't make them fit for purpose, when the technology catches up and EV genuinly become as good as ice then most people will buy them instead. but battery technology is a big obstacle, a whole new type of battery has to be invented really or the fuel tank will always be superior to lithium. the most promising avenue until that invention occurs is alternative fuels as everything is already there to accommodate them across the entire world.

[@simonclare-fu7sx]

20 mins ? it's not an extra 20 mins when you are at the end of a que now is it, there's no where near enough infrastructure and never will be

[@thamesmud]

In the case of vans unless you operate in a completely urban area the ranges offered are too small to be useful.

[@CristinaDaniel-e2i]

People know what they want. Don’t put yourself above, little intellectual. It is the Byzantine system that doesn't allow people to achieve what they want.

[@JohnWilliams-tc6fc]

Starmer and the labour party will be in power five years plus nice one 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂