This week I have been out across South Wales East speaking to residents and businesses, and one issue keeps coming up again and again: the cost of net zero.

I have warned for some time that net zero policies are driving up energy bills, undermining industry and placing Wales at a severe competitive disadvantage.

Fresh analysis shows Wales and Britain face some of the highest industrial and household energy costs in the developed world, despite the UK being responsible for only a small share of global CO₂ emissions.

Families and businesses across South Wales East are already feeling the pressure.

Net zero, as it is being implemented, is shrinking our economy at an alarming rate.

We are loading extra costs onto households, onto manufacturers and onto small firms, while many of the world’s biggest emitters are not moving at the same pace.

That means jobs leave, investment leaves and ordinary people are left paying the bill.

Wales is one of the countries least exposed to climate change, yet we are among the most exposed to sky high energy costs. We are close to being the last place still choosing to do this to ourselves.

People want clean air and a healthy environment, of course they do. But they also want to be able to heat their homes, run a car and keep their business afloat.

Right now the balance is completely wrong.

Wales needs a more realistic approach that protects both the environment and economic growth.

When Reform is in government, we will put affordability, security and common sense first.

We cannot save the planet by shutting down our own economy while the rest of the world carries on regardless.

Welsh workers and Welsh industry deserve better than policies that make them poorer without making any meaningful global difference.

And I will continue to speak up for local people who are fed up with paying the price for decisions they never asked for.