Sir Patrick Vallance has thrown his support behind Labour’s green energy proposals, warning that the race to net zero should be treated with the same immediacy as the search for a Covid vaccine.

Sir Patrick, who became a household name during the pandemic as Britain’s chief scientific adviser, backed Sir Keir’ Starmer’s pledge to decarbonise Britain’s electricity supplies by 2030.

“I am often asked which of Britain’s many pressing public policy challenges need a vaccine-style approach,” he wrote in the Times.

“I believe that one such priority is the urgent need to end the era of excessive carbon emissions, high energy bills and energy insecurity by accelerating the net zero transition to clean, homegrown energy.”

It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer heads to Scotland today where he will vow to “get working within months to build clean power across the United Kingdom” if his party wins the general election.

The proposals have been described as “dangerous” by the Conservatives, with Claire Coutinho, the Energy Secretary, calling Labour’s plans unfunded.

Meanwhile, the SNP said Labour’s plans to stop new oil and gas licences in the North Sea will cost tens of thousands of jobs, with SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn calling the scheme a “con trick” which would “deter billions of pounds of investment”.

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