We must tax meat to force Brits into vegan lifestyle, Labour donor claims in fiery Never Mind the Ballots clash
MILLIONARE Labour donor Dale Vince has demanded levies on steaks to push more Brits into a vegan lifestyle.
The green energy boss insisted red meat is the “most destructive” dietary choice for both humans and the planet.
He argued on a new episode of The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots slapping a tax on it would be key to “steer people’s behaviour” into making more sustainable choices.
The Opposition has accepted around £1.5m in donations over the past decade from Mr Vince, who severed ties with Just Stop Oil last year as part of his commitment to Labour.
Appearing on our show, Mr Vince told The Sun Political Editor Harry Cole part of the net-zero transition is to “eat less meat”.
He said people don’t have to give up eating it entirely but warned “our diets are killing us and killing the planet”.
Asked if he would like a meat tax, he said: “Yes, I’m just going to say yes…
“Red meat is the most destructive form of meat that we have available to us in terms of human health and planetary impact.
CHINA NO GREEN
The green energy boss praised Beijing’s fight against climate change – despite it being the planet’s biggest polluter.
Appearing on a new episode of The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots, Mr Vince dismissed concerns about Britain’s dependence on China’s clean energy supply chains.
He pointed to 80 per cent of all solar panels in the world coming from China and when challenged by The Sun Political Editor Harry Cole, Mr Vince said: “You have to look a little bit closer at China than that and get past the kind of right-wing tropes.”
Pressed on the fact China has the greatest number of coal-fired power stations of any country, the electricity entrepreneur hit back: “Okay, but they also have 50 per cent green electricity on the grid for a country of over a billion people…
“Using fossil fuels to transition to green energy is not a problem.”
“And so it makes sense to put a tax on that to steer people’s behaviour. That’s how taxes work, it has worked before.”
The founder of Ecotricity also criticised “hideously expensive” heat pumps, insisting they are not the solution.
Instead, he made the case for “gas from grass”, saying: “We have enough grass to make enough gas to power the whole country.
“And we (at Ecotricity) built a project in Reading last summer, a pilot project, that will power 4000 homes a year with with gas made from grass, and it’s the answer.
“We don’t have to throw away the gas grid and millions of appliances, our boilers are cookers. We just changed the gas in the grid.”