Ed Miliband has accused Nigel Farage of spreading "nonsense and lies" by appearing to blame the government's net zero policy for the crisis in the UK steel industry.
The energy secretary has claimed that both Reform UK and the Conservatives were willing to spread falsehoods to further their "ideological agenda" after the parties argued his policy is putting jobs in traditional industries at risk.
Writing in the Observer, the cabinet minister warned that an anti-net zero agenda would not only risk "climate breakdown" but "forfeit the clean energy jobs of the future".
He said that the UK's reliance on fossil fuels meant "markets went into meltdown and prices rocketed" after Russia waged its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"The cost of living impacts caused back then still stalk families today," he said.
"So the argument for the clean energy transition is not just the traditional climate case but the social justice case too – it is working people who pay the greatest price for our energy insecurity."
The former Labour leader has promised to "double down" on the government's environmental agenda but has been accused of "net-zero lunacy" by Nigel Farage.