CHRISTIAN CALGIE: Why Net Zero opponents fear we've gone from Mad Miliband to Miatta, even madder than Miliband!

By CHRISTIAN CALGIE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE Published: 23:41, 21 July 2026 | Updated: 23:42, 21 July 2026 For most politicians, being appointed to the Cabinet marks the biggest and proudest moment of their career. And yet for Miatta Fahnbulleh, the culmination of her remarkable rise ended in her being laughed at on live television. BBC Newsnight's ever-energetic presenter Nick Watt provided a live commentary of Ms Fahnbulleh's attempt to leave Downing Street after she learned about her big promotion and had told him she was 'delighted' with her new job. Rather unchivalrously, Mr Watt then revealed that she was trying to 'walk out the wrong way' and had come face-to-face with a blocked-off exit – a revelation that sparked laughter in the studio and was accompanied by social media users quipping: 'Doesn't fill you with much confidence…' The question now being asked by energy firms is whether the new Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero – a fervent Ed Miliband loyalist – will continue to take the beleaguered industry in the wrong direction set by her predecessor. The promotion of Miliband to the Foreign Office was, of course, greeted with sighs of relief from the industry after his Net Zero zealotry helped ensure Britain's electricity bills are among the highest in the Western world. But opponents of Net Zero were equally put on edge by his replacement. Fahnbulleh's climb up the greasy pole has been nothing short of spectacular. She is the only MP of the 2024 intake to have a full Cabinet position. She first joined the ranks of government as Miliband's deputy in the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), having entered Parliament after working as an adviser for the failed Labour leader, and as a policy wonk for the far-Left New Economics Foundation (NEF). Miatta Fahnbulleh arrived at 10 Downing Street for Andy Burnham's first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday The promotion of Ed Miliband (pictured) to the Foreign Office was, of course, greeted with sighs of relief from the industry after his Net Zero zealotry helped ensure Britain's electricity bills are among the highest in the Western world And when it comes to Net Zero, Miatta is just as radical – if not more so – than her old boss. In 2019, she proposed spending a staggering 5 per cent of GDP on green infrastructure, the equivalent of £140billion a year, and more than the entirety of Britain's defence spending. In November 2021, she called on the then-Tory government to spend £30 billion a year on Net Zero. She also demanded that Britain fulfil its 'decade-old promise to mobilise £74 billion of climate finance from rich nations to help the global south with the impacts of climate change'. Two months later came her demand for a £28 billion subsidy for green infrastructure jobs. In 2023, she called for a 'free basic energy' policy which she explained would completely eradicate bills 'for the first slug of energy you use… and then pay more if you use more energy'. And shortly after resigning from Keir Starmer's government, she appeared on Nick Robinson's Political Thinking podcast to flirt with the neo-Marxist politics of the Green Party's Zack Polanski. The Liberian-born Peckham MP, 46 – who came to Britain aged six and was educated at Oxford and the London School of Economics – heaped praise on the Greens, saying: 'Their central analysis of the problem with the economy has been the analysis I've been banging on about for the last decade and a bit… it is painful because they are entering the space that I believe the Labour Party should be holding.  'This should be our analysis of the problems with the country. I believe it to my absolute core.' There's a reason that one MP in Scotland – a part of the world more aware of the dangers of the dash to Net Zero than anywhere else – warned on Tuesday that 'Britain appears to have gone from Mad Miliband to madder than Miliband'. They added: 'If I were in the energy industry right now, I wouldn't be confident.' Fahnbulleh (pictured with new prime minister Andy Burnham during campaigning for the last General Election) is the only MP of the 2024 intake to have a full Cabinet position 'I don't think she's mentioned the oil and gas industry once in her two years as an MP. I think there will be tension between Jonny Reynolds (Business Secretary) – who has been quite supportive of the energy industry – and Miatta.  'Just like there was between Ed (Miliband) and Rachel (Reeves) – it stokes up real tension in the Government.' Questions have already been raised about Ms Fahnbulleh's role in helping Andy Burnham prepare for government, having been previously branded the 'brains' of his operation. In the run-up to his 'coronation', much ink was spilt fretting about what hard-Left plans Ms Fahnbulleh may have been putting in place for the new Prime Minister. In the past she has pushed wealth taxes, windfall taxes on oil and gas, mass nationalisation of land, transport and energy, hiking capital gains tax, tripling stamp duty on those with more than one home, and banning loans to businesses with a 'large amount of greenhouse gas emissions'. Onlookers may have been relieved, therefore, that in the end she was given a more restricted portfolio over energy than a more wide-ranging Treasury role. Her Tory opposite number, Claire Coutinho, though, is already warning she has been given a prime opportunity to do more than enough damage to Britain. The shadow Energy Security Secretary said on Tuesday: 'Miatta Fahnbulleh remarkably seems to have drunk even more of the green lobby Kool-Aid than Ed Miliband. The first thing she should do is get on to a plane to speak to the workers in Aberdeen who are losing their livelihoods thanks to her policies.' The main question now is what approach Fahnbulleh will take to drilling for oil in the North Sea, a debate the Tories recently capitalised on to win the Aberdeen South by-election using a Trump-style 'drill, baby, drill' message. While the new DESNZ Secretary gets to grips with her role, those in and around the Labour Party appeared just as confused about her personal views as the energy industry itself.  A Labour source close to Mr Burnham's operation said that while she is 'obviously very much pro-Green, she is also very much a pragmatist when it comes to the cost of living'. They speculated that were she to conclude that failing to drill for oil in the North Sea is impacting the livelihood of hard-working Britons, she will 'probably' side with Andy Burnham and take a different path to Mr Miliband. One Labour grandee said that while he is 'pleased' Ed Miliband has effectively been shunted on a plane out of the country – 'My punters are sick to death of hearing about Net Zero when they can't pay their bills' – they voiced fears that his replacement would prove little better. 'I suspect she's not going to drill baby drill, but, if the resource is there, we ought to be using it – even if for jobs. 'Just look at what the Tories did in Aberdeen as a result of saying 'we want to drill'.' Whatever her views, Miatta will have to move quickly to provide a sense of direction for the oil industry. On Tuesday the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce was scathing in its assessment, warning that she represents 'more of the same'. Its chief executive, Russell Borthwick, demanded an urgent end to 'overregulation and punitive taxation', although any hopes of that will be dampened by Ms Fahnbulleh's previous statements. What may worry Andy Burnham most is not his new DESNZ Secretary's views on any one issue, but that of her character. Despite being given a plum job by Starmer the minute she entered Parliament, she was the first minister to quit following the disastrous local election results. One source close to Burnham warns that Miatta is, first and foremost, Miliband's ally, not the Prime Minister's. Ed may be flying to far-off lands to hobnob with foreign dignitaries, but his snub over the Chancellorship will remain at the forefront of his mind. If Mr Burnham hits turbulence in the coming months, and the embittered Mr Miliband resumes his plotting, it may very well fall to Miatta Fahnbulleh once again to go over the top, in the pursuit of a bigger prize.