The UK’s energy market “isn’t a free market at all” according to Kevin McCullough, Chief Executive of UK Coal (pictured right).

Speaking at Energy Live 2013, he said Britain’s market was instead “completely manipulated”.

Asked whether the Government was ‘picking winners,’ the Head of Power and Utilities at EY, Tony Ward (pictured left), said the government was merely “providing some stimulus” to kick start emerging technologies when there was “not an economic case” for private investors.

He was cut short by Mr McCullough, who told the audience “I disagree totally”.

The UK Coal boss said: “You can call it market interference, you can call it market manipulation, you can call it what you will. Dress it up in any phraseology you want.”

He continued: “If there was not the subsidy …[for] renewables then we would not have built those assets.”

Mr McCullough said we needed more renewable energy and he was not against the Government intervening to support its development.

But he added: “For God’s sake call it what it is.”