You may not be aware of this but Bolton Council has a net zero target date of 2030 – this is 20 years before the UK government’s target.

Yes you read that correctly, Bolton Labour council are committed to reaching this extremely challenging target, a full 20 years early.

New Year’s Day 2030 is less than six years away.

Do you have the money to fundamentally change the way you live? You need to, because this target is about to get serious for every family in the town.

This is an alarming prospect for the residents of Bolton, it means a fundamental change to the way we live and work.

We will face huge bills for changing heating systems, cars and the kind of products you consume. The council will need to divert resources away from investment in essential services, to strip out functioning heating systems and install new ones.

The bill for a new heating system for the town hall alone, will run into millions of pounds.

In a tweet issued by the council just a couple of days ago, the council asks residents to support Keep Britain Tidy’s #BuyNothingNewMonth campaign. If successful, I doubt very much it will “save the planet”. It may, however, succeed in in killing off the remaining small businesses in Bolton, reliant on a strong economy where people purchase new goods.

Make no mistake, the unintended consequences of the actions taken by the Labour administration in achieving this arbitrary goal of net zero in less than six years will negatively affect every household, business and resident in the town.

It is built on the falsehood that you can take radical action without consequences for ordinary families. Economic growth over the last 100 years has lifted millions of people out of poverty. It has created a safer and healthier world. All this is now at risk.

The earth has in the last 100 years unquestionably warmed and carbon emissions have played a role in that and we should take practical steps to reduce them, but net zero by 2030 spells very bad news for the residents of Bolton and I am not sure the electors of Bolton who returned a Labour Council last May, were aware of the impact this policy has in store for them and their families.