I don’t think that we serve our children or planet well giving in to the counsel of despair. Tackling it is more akin to an engineering challenge – one we know we can do.
On some issues, he got it wrong. On other issues, he got it right but is misrepresented by some of his cheerleaders. And on other issues, he was right in the context of the time but circumstances have changed.
He was the most formidable Chancellor of the Twentieth Century and a titan of the modern Conservative Party – voting for Sunak and endorsing his approach in last summer’s Tory leadership election.,
Green Finance may sound admirably ambitious, but if it means diverting capital from efficient, market-driven investments into manipulated ones then we will all suffer. Nobody has voted to be made poorer.
The Tories of the 2030s will need to make a complete clean break with the 1980s. We can think new ideas – and return to older ones to conserve and protect the institutions that make up the social fabric of this country.
Leading developers across the country, including Landsec, are now working hard against an ambitious science-based carbon reduction target and transitioning to net zero quicker than required. But more can still be done.
A pro-science and technology agenda requires political decisions no-one is currently pursuing. Taking on some public sector trade unions. Engaging constructively with the EU. Reforming planning law. Embracing the Oxford to Cambridge arc.
The Government needs to work with industry to set a practicable strategy rather than announcing unworkable timeframes first and consulting with industry experts later.
We don’t have time to waste. During 2025 and 2026 the TCA, the UK/EU fisheries agreement, the EU’s decision on UK data adequacy and its current policy on derivatives trading all come up for review.
We might get the most optimal outcomes from the Independent Net Zero Review by extracting the best of it and focusing our efforts. Let’s prioritise those priorities.
Commentators focus their attention on the Red or Blue walls, but the Conservatives shouldn’t turn their backs on the green bridge of voters in both camps, especially when we have a strong record on climate and the environment.
Regardless of how the climate is changing, and to what extent, our attitude toward defending the most vulnerable Christians in the most hostile environments in the world cannot.
The moral of this story is that these models provide interesting context – a little like horoscopes. But when it comes to decision-making, give me an economic historian in preference to a model any day.
The Energy Charter Treaty is another area where our parliament needs to reclaim the right to make its own laws without fear of costly legal action.
We are rapidly approaching the point at which these so-called ‘experts’ can no longer plausibly deny the overwhelming evidence that offshore wind is both extremely expensive and not becoming appreciably less so.