Claims Net Zero policies bring cheap and secure homegrown energy 'laughable', economist says

He is a supporter of decarbonisation but has called for more transparency around the costs of a renewables energy system.

The Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University made the comments as he called for an end to the "politics of the long grass", where short-term "fudges" were favoured over long-term investment.

Defence, transport, social care, water and energy were all areas that needed long-term solutions, he said.

"These are the things that have to be fixed in order to have economic growth", he told the Helm Talks podcast. "And these are the politics of the long term – not the politics of the long grass."

Addressing these issues would require investments that simply weren't forthcoming, he said.

But he argued it would be "defeatist" to conclude the public refused to make the sacrifices required.

He said: "The reason we like living beyond our means is because we're always told we can.

"We're told the absolute nonsense that Net Zero is going to be cheap.

"We're told by ideological politicians like Ed Miliband that there's Nirvana around the corner and it's not going to cost you a penny.

"Cheap, homegrown energy that's also secure - it's just laughable.

"We have the highest electricity cost amongst almost all the developed economies in the world.

"It's not cheap. It's all foreign, in terms of supply chains, from predominantly China.

"And as for homegrown, the one homegrown bit we might actually invest in for the medium and longer term, the North Sea, is perfectly okay - as long as it's Norwegian North Sea and not British North Sea.

"Very hard to make this stuff up."

Prof Helm said that the need for long-term fixes ought to find cross-party consensus.

However, he bemoaned a tendency towards "short-term popularist palliatives to get the bills down".

He said: "If you really want to get Britain back on a growth path, you've got to fix the infrastructure.

"You've got to have a transport system that works.

"You've got to have a water and sewage system that's clean and effective, and it can actually deliver water when required.

"You've got to have a modern communication system where when you try to make a mobile call, it actually works.

"And you need, more generally, an energy system which is going to deliver firm power for all the energy intensive industries that are coming down the track."

He welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham's pledge to "look across the party divide" during his leadership.

Yet he said: "Pity about some of his MPs who have a different view about this and pity about people on the far right who seem unwilling to engage.

"It shouldn't be a party-political matter to have an energy system which allows British industry to be globally competitive.

"It shouldn't be politically divisive to want to sort out transport and communications and water and sewers."

He called for independent institutions that focused on these long-term issues and allowed "serious planning going forward".

Royal Commissions have been used for this purpose, but the last one was launched in 1999.

Prof Helm said he feared that only a true crisis would make the country grasp the nettle and deal with these deep-seated problems.

He expected the status quo to continue until circumstances forced a rethink.

"My guess is, one more heave at the politics of the long grass, at the short-term expediencies, at the gimmicks of quick bungs to customers," he said. "One more heave of this and then we really will have a crisis.

"The upside of which is, finally, we might actually create a proper framework which sustains long-term investments in our critical infrastructures, which the UK so badly needs."

A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We've seen £100billion of private investment announced into clean energy since July 2024.

“Our focus is bringing bills down, driving growth in every postcode and delivering jobs for communities.”