Dame Mary Archer has been removed from her role as a non-executive board member of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), in a move that has triggered accusations of political bias and intolerance of dissent within Ed Miliband’s department.
The 80-year-old energy expert and wife of Conservative peer Lord Archer was summoned to the department on Friday and informed that her services were no longer required. The decision, reportedly taken by departmental permanent secretary Jeremy Pocklington, follows speculation about internal divisions within the government over its ambitious net zero strategy.
Sources close to Dame Mary said her removal came without warning, and highlighted the timing — just days after Sir Tony Blair publicly criticised the government’s net zero policy, calling it “doomed to fail”. Dame Mary is said to broadly share that assessment.
Sir Christopher Chope, a Conservative MP and member of the Commons energy security and net zero committee, accused the government of trying to “suppress all opposition” to its climate agenda.
“Clearly they are not interested in listening to people on their board who may have a different point of view,” he said.
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