'Scrapping net zero won’t cut energy bills' - your letters, plus a snapshot of early days at Bridgnorth Grammar School

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Paradox of net zero claim

I refer to the article "Reform at steel firm to pledge an end to ‘net zero madness’”. The article quoted Mr Tice, of the Reform party, as claiming that they would "reduce energy costs and scrap net zero madness...". The phrase creates a paradox, in that "net zero", when achieved, would reduce energy costs, and scrapping it would lead to increasing costs.

Energy produced by solar panels and wind turbines has no fuel costs, while the costs of oil, gas and coal are unstable, with unpredictable results in the long term. Your readers will be aware of this in light of the situation in the Middle East, and recently in Ukraine. Reform also promises cheap gas from fracking in the UK. He and his cohorts are fond of this argument, but never tell us that the gas produced would be extracted by private companies, not even necessarily British, and sold back to us on the international markets, as is our current North Sea gas. The price of electricity in the UK is also tied to the international price of gas, and electricity prices in the UK for this reason are almost the highest in Europe.

We lost control over our own energy supplies when North Sea gas and oil were privatised by the Thatcher government. What no-one amongst our present and possible future leaders seem to admit is that the only way to make our energy cheaper would be to re-nationalise what belonged to the country originally.

David Clenton, Midlands

Better way to cut NHS lists

I have heard recently about the missed appointments at our hospitals, and on a TV programme it said it was about 1.5 million. Which of course is unbelievable and costs so much.