The result of the Aberdeen South by-election, with a decisive defeat for the SNP candidate, was a result of anger against the net zero policies of both the SNP and Labour. Workers are calling for a change.

Protests in Glasgow followed news of the latest increase to the energy price cap. This will increase household bills from July. There were calls to fight profiteering and net zero policies.

Fuel shortages look likely. Unlike the government, workers in the gas and oil industry want Britain to use our resources of gas and oil and to maintain refinery capacity.

Ed Miliband seems unable to appreciate the folly of his net zero policy. Whether mistaken or deliberate, the consequence for Britain is industrial suicide.

On 19 March the government announced its steel strategy, including import tariffs. But there are wider challenges to face to secure the vital industry, particularly the cost of energy.

The reality behind the uncontrolled drive for solar and wind energy is the destruction of productive farmland and damaging valuable moors. And consumer bills will rise to pay for this.

The government plans energy links with other countries linked to an big increase in offshore wind electricity generation. The claimed benefits may not materialise.

The Labour government, and energy minister Ed Miliband in particular, claimed that renewable energy would reduce electricity prices. Things are not turning out that way.

The GMB trade union has launched a campaign to save what is left of the British ceramics industry, hit hard by rising energy costs. But it is a vital sector supplying other industries.

Ørsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, has abruptly pulled out of the Hornsea 4 offshore wind farm in the North Sea, one of Britain’s biggest-ever projects. This puts the government’s target of net zero for power by 2030 at extreme risk.

Steel is a vital product, yet the future of the industry in Britain is continually threatened. Recent moves by the government are an opportunity to change that, as long as it addresses energy costs.

The new government wants to revive a policy of its predecessor to increase heat pump take up by taxing gas boilers. Its enthusiasm for net zero makes it blind to the reason why the idea was dropped.