The Shadow Climate Change Secretary has not been forgiven by some in the Labour Party for his conduct as its leader.
An emphatic 66 per cent are opposed to LDNs – and a socking great 83 per cent to the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030.
The fact remains that the broad thrust of climate policy enjoys strong support from voters. YouGov polling shows that ULEZ is a rare example of an unpopular environmental measure.
To date, the Parliamentary Party has been divided between a small number of committed critics, a larger one of enthuasiasts, and a larger one looking to see which side triumphs.
Government can use research grants, low business taxes and pro-innovation policies to resolve the difficulties. It makes little sense to plough on with taxes and bans.
Thanks to Conservative policies, the UK has one of the fastest decarbonisation rates of any G7 country, built the world’s largest offshore wind farms off our coasts, and became the first major economy to enshrine net zero by 2050 in law.
As of 2021, 75 per cent of all councils have declared a climate emergency with varying target dates spawning an endless process of consultations. These projects and schemes all represent time and money that could be devoted to delivering services for residents at value.
The committee’s report was thorough, but the sentence is disproportionate.
Many of Tory MPs will be sick and tired of the self-reverential obsequies attached to the Committee’s deliberation and verdict – and of the hysteria, hate, vitriol and venom directed at a man without whom many would never have had the opportunity to serve in Parliament.
Contrast the leisurely approach towards this allegedly extinction-level threat with the Government’s response to the pandemic.
None of Vince’s presuppositions about the project – that the technology, the economy, and the public are on side – stand up to scrutiny.
The UK made a strategic mistake in dismissing the Messina Conference in 1955. This moment is not as seismic – but the UK should not pass up the opportunity to shape the post-Brexit, post-Ukraine, Europe where it can.
The changing global landscape should refocus our policy on the factors that are need to improve the investment outlook – such as sound macro polices and the level, predictability and simplicity of tax.
The upside of a new cross-party appointments process would be distance from the government of the day. The downside is the danger of boiling it down to a lowest common denominator.
The twenty-sixth article in a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.