Lee Anderson got brutally owned by an environmentalist after he tried to argue that his electric lawnmower made a “nonsense” of Net Zero.
The former deputy Tory Party chairman, who now represents Reform UK in the House of Commons as their only MP, took to his garden to make what he thought would be a poignant political point.
But no sooner had he posted the clip on social media than the experts had weighed in, making a mockery of pretty much everything he had just said.
In the video Anderson said: “Just cut my lawns with this electric lawn mower, it’s got batteries on, that’s net zero at its finest.
“Trouble is I’ve charged it up earlier today and probably the electricity has come from Radcliffe power station about 10 miles down the road that runs on gas and sometimes coal. What a load of nonsense that is net zero.”
However community notes were added to the video which stated that, on the day of filming, the UK grid was being powered by more than 76 per cent renewable and nuclear sources, including more than 50 per cent wind and 10 per cent solar generation.
Green energy boss Dale Vince hit back on X accusing the MP of failing to understand the meaning of net zero before schooling him on renewable power.
Vince wrote: “You have no idea what net zero means. Your lawnmower is not an example of that. Britain’s grid is nearly 50 per cent renewable now – that’s the better measure of what is powering your battery powered gift.
“Even if you were using power straight from Radcliffe, that’s 3-4 times more fuel efficient than a tiny lawnmower engine is – and there’s no noise or air pollution for your neighbours – other than you spouting off of course.”
Anderson accused Vince of “virtue signalling” and asked Vince why people’s bills were so high if renewable energy was cheap. To which Vince said that the energy crisis was in fact due to the UK’s dependence on fossil fuels and paying more than we need to because of allowing global markets to set our prices, before he accused the MP of using “click bait net zero headlines”.