Nigel Farage is launching a political movement to campaign for a referendum on Boris Johnson's net zero policy to decarbonise the economy by 2050.
The former Brexit Party leader has announced that Britain Means Business - modelled on his successful campaign for a Brexit referendum - will call for the abandonment of the flagship green policy, which experts claim could cost £1.3trillion.
The Mail says Mr Farage's intervention comes amid growing disquiet within the Cabinet over the burden the plan will put on an economy already creaking under the strain of the £400billion Covid crisis and a surge in energy costs.
He claims the political class in Westminster has taken the country down a "ruinous path" by committing to the net zero target without any public debate being held.
Mr Farage, who has established Britain Means Business with Richard Tice, his co-founder at Leave Means Leave and the Brexit Party, says the "net zero delusion" is "a scandal of epic proportions" which must be challenged.
He adds: "If we are not careful, the only zero will be the amount in people's bank accounts as we send our jobs and money overseas."
He writes: 'Without any debate, our energy bills have been loaded with green subsidies. Our businesses have been disadvantaged, yet our leaders seem happy to outsource industrial production just as long as they can say it reduces Britain's CO2 emissions."
However, UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said yesterday that a transition to cheaper and cleaner power is essential.
Writing in yesterday's Mail on Sunday, Mr Kwarteng argues that the United Kingdom needs to reduce its dependence on oil and gas, which renders us 'vulnerable to Putin's malign influence on global markets'.
"With gas prices at record highs, and the price of renewable energy plummeting, we need to accelerate our transition away from expensive gas," he said.
"Now, more than ever, we must focus on generating cheaper, cleaner power in Britain, for Britain. This is how we become energy independent in the long term."