Net Zero should be about cutting waste, protecting the countryside, and making life more affordable in the long run — not forcing costly changes onto working families.

We pay some of the highest energy prices in Europe, yet many rural homes lose heat through poor insulation and rely on expensive fuels like oil or LPG. That’s not sustainable — for our wallets or the planet.

I support a practical approach that works for rural areas like ours. That means:

• 🏡 Support to insulate older homes — especially in villages where energy bills are high and heat is easily lost.

• 🔥 Choice over heating systems — not banning oil boilers without giving people affordable, workable alternatives.

• 🚌 Better rural transport — because you can’t just tell people to ditch the car when the bus doesn’t run very often if at all.

• 🌱 Back local farmers — with incentives to improve soil and land, not blame them for climate problems.

• ⚡ Community energy projects — like solar panels on village halls, not industrial-scale solar farms swallowing up productive farmland.

And let’s be honest: the UK isn’t the problem. We produce less than 1% of global emissions — far less than countries like China, India or the US. Yet we’re constantly told to go further, faster, and set the gold standard — like the model pupil doing extra homework while others ignore the rules.

That doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing. But it does mean we should focus on practical, local solutions — not punish our own communities just to make a political point or chase targets that leave families footing the bill.