What Would ReformUK Do To Curb or Prevent Climate Change? - A Major Disappointment!

ReformUK makes a big thing of "Scrap Net Zero". Net Zero was designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions that generate climate change. We have just had a summer of heatwaves and many wildfires, a sure warning that climate change is now affecting Britain, not just the impoverished countries. So, at first signt, ReformUK's slogan seems alarming.

But is it? But is it? Might they actually have a better way of reducing and curbing climate change? I wanted to find out. Because of my commitment to my Saviour, Jesus Christ, I like giving people the benefit of the doubt, and I like finding positive things about them, instead of always being negative. But I came away disappointed.

Questioning My MP

So I wrote to my MP, Sarah Pochin, asking what policies ReformUK had to reduce or prevent climate change emissions. My letter was as follows, in the box:

I received a reply which began, "Thank you for contacting me to share your views on the UK's Net Zero policies" - which I had not done; I asked a question and carefully avoided sharing my views. That showed me that the reply was a mere standard text.

The text itself was disappointing, in that it did not even attempt to answer my question but. It continued "Our nation is currently grappling with record-high taxes, soaring national debt, and a relentless cost-of-living crisis. ... In the midst of these struggles, the political establishment in Westminster continues to enforce a Net Zero agenda that is actively making the British public poorer and colder." Most of the rest of the reply comprised standard scare-mongering. I was very disappointed because there was almost nothing to answer my question, and almost all just their standard mix of flawed reasoning and bad economics.

However, it did include one positive answer to my questions: "I want to reassure you that Reform UK ... [is] still seeking sensible clean and sustainable energy alternatives to fossil fuels" but where the "..." is "stands firmly against these economically damaging policies whilst". This shows their priorities. In fact, the bulk of the text was about reducing spend and cutting costs. They claim to save a mere £500 per British family each year (which of course is only about £4 per week per person (2.4 people per family avg.!). So that they can sacrifice the future.

Visit to Constituency Office

However, one of the people in her office said he was interested in climate change and invited me to visit the ReformUK constituency office in Runcorn SHopping City to discuss this.

As far as my recollection goes, the following happened.

So I cycled over to meet him. I had around a dozen questions ready - the kind of questions that any party that is ready for government needs to be able to answer, showed them to him and asked my host how long we had. The questions I had prepared (as notes to myself) are in the following box:

A lot of questions! But I did not intend to ask them all, just to start and get an idea of ReformUK's approach, and some indication where to go to get answered.

My host told me that we had as long as we needed. So I began to ask the questions. I did not expect to get them all discused,but I did expect that we would begin and that he might take them away or direct me somewhere. He answered the first one, that ReformUK accepts that Climate Change is happening, but questioned the timescale. I wanted to ask what he meant by timescale, but we were interrupted by a tall, intimidating man, who told us "This office is not for that."

Apparently, the constituency office is not the same as the political party. It is only there to help the MP deal with problems that people have and cannot answer questions about policy. I had not known that but accepted it at face value - but wondered why my host had, in our email correspondence, invited me to the office to discuss my questions.

I did point out - and he seemed to agree - that a political party ready for government does need to have answers to such questions.

My host informed me that he could not answer them because he did not know the answers himself but could find out. I replied that was OK with me; he could give me answers as he could and indicate for each whether they were party policy, draft policy, ideas being thrown around, or his own ideas. But he did not seem happy with that.

So I never managed to clarify about timescale, nor ask the rest of my questions.

My host had, however, managed to tell me that they do not like the idea of trying to hit a target at the expense of other things, that there should be no public subsidy, and there spending of public money to subsidise a technology "that will not stand up". But that does not answer my question of what they would do to reduce or prevent climate change emissions. He did add that they would support nuclear power, including both large and modular stations. They are against the Peak Cluster Carbon Capture Scheme, a pipeline across Morecambe Bay transporting CO2, but not against CCS as such. He told me that they would support technologies that are "non-disruptive" and are "commercially viable" and are mature technologies that need no government subsidy. (I suggested that this would prevent many new technologies from developing, because most would need subsidy at first to get down their learning curve.)

He told me that Richard Tice was the spokeman on energy and Net Zero (to which I replied that I was not impressed with RT because all he seemed to do was sloganize). He told me that discussions were going on behind closed doors. Fair enough. It was admitted (I am not saying by whom) that Richard Tice often speaks in slogans, such as "Stopping Net Zero Madness", "Net Stupid Zero" and not about positive policy.

During this time, the tall intimidating man returned sseveral times, along with a short man who was dressed like an office manager, to stop me asking questions. Then suddenly, out of the blue, we were told that they had a meeting; the implication was that I should go. That my host had earlier told me that we had whatever time was needed makes me wonder whether they manufactured the meeting in order to throw me out.

My host had given me a web URL on which to find policy documents. There seemed to be about ten of them, of which several seemed to be about immigration and none about climate change. Apparently, Net Zero policy is in a document "First 100 Days; Our Pledges to You", one of which is to cut energy bills - but climate change is not mentioned therein. The intimidating man also gvve me an email to ask about policy,

ReformUK's Policy Documents

• Operation Restoring Justice, on Immigration
• Stop The Boriswave, on Immigration
• Contract with Small Business, on taxes on small businesses
• Affordable Social Housing for Working Britain, on building social housing
• Apprenticeship Wage Credit, on apprenticeships for work
• Making Welfare Work, on Britain working
• Keeping Criminals Behind Bars, on prisons
• Operation Fortress, on Immigration
• Agriculture & Fishing, on agriculture, fishing
• Election Integrity Bill, on elections
• Planning Teal Paper, on housing and cities
• MoU: Reform UK and Rassemblement National, on working with the French right, especially on Immigration
• The First 100 Days: Our Pledges to You, on nine pledges, three on Immigration, one on the NHS, two on taxes, one on lawlessnes, one on cutting energy bills and scrapping Net Zero, one on small business.

Those are the ones available in late September 2025.

And, in the only one that give policy on Net Zero, The First 100 Days, there is nothing about how they would curb climate change. Nothing at all, that I could see.

In fact, see how lopsided those policies are. Several on Immigration, and a couple of other things, none at all on most issues facing Britain today. To be ready for government, they need policies worked out for everything! Not just those pet topics.

Conclusions

• It seems that ReformUK have no oolicies about how to reduce or prevent climate change. ReformUK seem to have nothing with which to replace Net Zero. Have they closed their ears to farmers and the majority of people who are concerned about climate change?!

• In fact, they seem to have almost no policies on most topics that any government will be faced with, only on a few of their pet topics.

• ReformUK seem long on slogans and short on policy.

• The constituency office does not even seem to have printed copies of policy documents to give out or even refer to!

• And, finally, I was also disappointed at the unfriendly attitude of the other staff, and the rigidity of their application of the apparent rule that the constituency office is not able to tell the public about policies.

ReformUK turn out to be worse than I had thought. ReformUK is nowhere near ready for government.

This page, "abxn.org/ccge/reformuk.html", is an expression of part of a project to understand the links between climate change, global economy and other matters including society's beliefs and aspirations. It is designed to stimulate thinking and discourse. Comments, queries welcome.

This page is written on behalf of the CCGE Group by Andrew Basden, but the views expressed herein are his and not necessarily those of the other members of the Group. Written on the Amiga with Protext in the style of classic HTML. Copyright (c) Andrew Basden all dates below, but you may use this material subject to certain conditions.

Created: 25 September 2026. Last updated: 5 October 2026 policy paper list; better intro, concl. 6 October 2026 alt title, intro.