The cackhanded pursuit of Net Zero by Ed Miliband and his predecessors has left Britain having to pay France and other countries to take excess power off our hands for a significant portion of the year. The Telegraph has more.

It’s the Ed Miliband paradox: why does Britain have among the highest power prices in Europe when we have so much electricity that suppliers have to pay customers to use it?

It was a question repeated across the energy industry last week after power prices briefly turned negative, meaning customers and countries abroad were paid to use surplus electricity generated in Britain rather than having to pay for it.

It meant free energy for some consumers to use as they pleased – to charge their electric vehicles (EVs) or simply make a cup of tea – and saw Britain offloading the rest to the likes of France and Holland, not just free but with a chunky payment attached.

This might sound like an oddity, but it was far from the first time. So far this year, Britain has seen around 50 hours of negative prices. Last year, the amount totalled 150 hours – a sevenfold increase since 2021, according to Aurora Energy.

Read more: Net Zero Leaves Britain Paying France to Take Our Power