Speaking at the LSE David Cameron has crushed any idea that the balance of green tax measures under a Conservative government will be cuts to encourage good environmental behaviour rather than tax rises to discourage ‘brown behaviours’:
"By using green taxes as extra stealth taxes, Gordon Brown has given them a bad name. I’m determined that the Conservative approach will be different. With my Government, any new green taxes will be replacement taxes, not new stealth taxes.
In a few days, our Quality of Life Policy Group will publish its report. It will contain many recommendations on tackling climate change, at home and abroad, including recommendations on green taxes. As with all the reports in our Policy Review, we will study its proposals carefully.
But let me be clear. We will raise green taxes, and use the proceeds to reduce taxes elsewhere. That is the right direction for the environment and it’s the right direction for our economy. It is the best way to deliver the green growth that must be our aim."
Mr Cameron’s remarks come within a longer speech on ‘Meeting the economic challenges of the future’. Download a PDF of the full Cameron text.