The UK government is set to be challenged by their own MPs over the policy of reaching net zero carbon emissions.

A group of influential backbenchers within the Tory Party, led by Thanet MP, Craig Mackinlay, are set to ‘question consensus; on net zero goals, with a request for more transparency on the data being used to make decisions.

Mackinlay, a former UKIP deputy is being assisted by self-styled ‘Brexit hard man’ Steve Baker, who is currently leading a social media hashtag campaign entitled #costofnetzero. The pair were members of the hugely influential European Research Group which helped push for a hard Brexit.

Speaking in a recent opinion piece on the Conservative Home blog, Mackinley labelled the road to net zero as ‘muddled, costly and impractical’ arguing that the Climate Change Committee data is often unreliably sourced on climate change news items. “[The Climate Change Committee] is a significant player in the political debate around net zero, often explicitly directing government policy, while being totally unelected and unaccountable…” while “mainstream media regurgitates its words sagely with little space offered to those who question its assumptions.”

With the price of gas set to spiral in coming months and a planned switch from natural gas to expensive heat pumps over the coming years, the Tory backbenchers are likely to have plenty of ammunition and could test Boris Johnson’s signature pledge at the last election to be net zero by 2050.

The moves could also cause the government embarrassment in the year when the UK hosts COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference.