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A bitter row has erupted over energy bills after green entrepreneur Dale Vince tore into Labour's flagship pricing reforms and branded them a "joke".

The Ecotricity founder accused Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Chancellor Rachel Reeves of failing to deliver on a headline-grabbing pledge to cut costs by breaking the link between gas and electricity prices. And in an extraordinary intervention, he called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to seize back control of energy policy and "actually break the link".

At the heart of the dispute is the way Britain's electricity market operates with gas-fired power still setting the price for all electricity, even when much of it comes from cheaper renewables.

Mr Vince says that flaw has had a staggering cost. He claims the system added £43billion to energy bills in 2023, because soaring global gas prices pushed up the cost of all electricity, including power generated from wind and solar.

"If only Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves had actually 'broken the link' - our energy bills would be lower now," he said.

Ministers had promised to tackle the issue, but Mr Vince complained that what they delivered falls far short of what is needed to protect the public.

He warned that the plan relies on voluntary deals with existing renewable generators, which he believes will barely dent the problem.

Writing on X, he said: "Offering voluntary contracts to legacy green generation is a joke. Their own forecasts are for a 10% take up by 2030 - a pointless gesture."

He added it amounted to "a betrayal of the country" and warned it risks misleading both the public and parts of Government.

When they unveiled their reforms, both Mr Miliband and Ms Reeves insisted action was needed to protect households from volatile fossil fuel markets.

Mr Miliband said the UK needed to ensure consumers "benefit from cheap, clean power" rather than being exposed to gas price spikes - framing the policy as central to cutting bills.

Ms Reeves, meanwhile, argued reform would help deliver "lower and more stable energy bills" by reducing reliance on global gas markets.

Both presented the move as effectively breaking - or at least weakening - the link between gas prices and electricity costs, a key part of Labour's wider cost-of-living strategy.

But critics like Mr Vince insisted the reality does not match the rhetoric.

In a direct challenge to the current set-up in Whitehall, Mr Vince said only intervention from the very top will fix the problem.

"Keir Starmer should take control of this - and actually break the link," he said.

The call effectively urges the Prime Minister to take responsibility away from both the Treasury and the Department for Energy in order to force through more radical reform.

Mr Vince also warned that failing to overhaul the pricing system risks prolonging political rows over energy costs.

He said leaving the current model in place allows critics to continue blaming green levies for high bills when, in his view, the real issue is a fossil fuel-driven pricing system combined with a "defective market mechanism".

With millions still struggling with high household costs, the clash raises serious questions over whether Labour's promises will translate into meaningful savings or simply remain, as Mr Vince suggests "great headlines" without real impact.

A government spokesperson said: "We have taken decisive action to break the influence of gas on electricity prices, to better protect households from energy crises.