Labour challenge Tory climate change denial at PMQs
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Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary,
standing in today for Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Ministers Questions
(PMQs), has highlighted climate change denial at the top of the
Tory party and fears that the next Prime Minister will be unwilling
to tackle the climate emergency. New research from Labour
reveals that 15 of Theresa May’s current and former cabinet
ministers are implicated in climate change denial, including Tory
leadership favourites...Request free
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Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, standing in today for Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs), has highlighted climate change denial at the top of the Tory party and fears that the next Prime Minister will be unwilling to tackle the climate emergency.
New research from Labour reveals that 15 of Theresa May’s current and former cabinet ministers are implicated in climate change denial, including Tory leadership favourites Boris Johnson and Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
On Tory leadership candidates, analysis found that:
Boris Johnson has referred to global warming as a "primitive fear" that is "without foundation". As Education Secretary, Michael Gove opposed teaching climate science in school, with his spokesperson dismissing climate science as "a particular political or ideological point of view".
On serving and former cabinet members, analysis also found:
In recent months the government has been subject to mounting criticism for ignoring the science on climate change. Last year leading climate scientist James Hansen accused government energy policy of “aping Trump”, while this March the High Court ruled government fracking policies unlawful for failing to take into account scientific evidence.
Rising public pressure forced the government into a humiliating U-turn last month when it belatedly accepted a Labour motion to declare a climate and environment emergency. But this analysis will raise fresh fears about the scale of climate change denial in the Conservative Party and whether it is capable of taking the necessary action to tackle the climate crisis.
Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, speaking at PMQs, said:
"How much authority does the government really have on climate change?
"Three current ministers ‘have denied’ the scientific consensus on climate change.
“And several of those standing in the Tory leadership contest, have close links with organisations and individuals ‘promoting’ climate change.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Climate denial in the cabinet
“It is fantastic news that the world has agreed to cut pollution and help people save money, but I am sure that those global leaders were driven by a primitive fear that the present ambient warm weather is somehow caused by humanity; and that fear – as far as I understand the science – is equally without foundation.” Boris Johnson, The Telegraph, December 2015
So, what are Fallon’s own personal views on climate change? Is he a John Hayes-style sceptic? Or would he describe himself as a climate change realist? “You are getting me into theology now, I don’t deal with that,” he says, adding with a smile, “that’s the other side of the department, isn’t it? “You are not going to draw me on that. I’ve not had time to get into the great climate change debate. My job is to make sure the lights stay on and we get new investment in energy and a better deal for the consumer. I do not have time all day, I’m afraid, to read these various tracts. There are lots of them and a very polarised debate. Instinctively I’m… well, anyway… I’ve not gone into it.” PoliticsHome, June 2013
He said evidence suggested the earth was cooling, not warming, and that recently leaked e-mails had shown leading scientists "conspiring to rig the figures to support their theories". BBC News, December 2009
Home Secretary Theresa May, Foreign Secretary William Hague and new Defence Secretary Philip Hammond also received gifts or donations from Mr Hintze or his company, CQS Management. Even London Mayor Boris Johnson and former Tory leadership candidate David Davis have been backed by the banker. The Daily Mail, October 2011
“It’s important that we take climate issues seriously,” Fox said. “Whether or not individuals accept the current scientific consensus on the causes of climate change, it is sensible for everyone to use finite resources in a responsible way.” The Guardian, April 2019
Hardline Brexiteers with links to a network of organisations spreading disinformation about climate change have seats on an expert committee closely advising international trade secretary Liam Fox, a freedom of information request reveals. The five-member committee includes Peter Lilley, one of the board members of the climate science denial campaign group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. DeSmogUK, March 2019
Michael Hintze, a leading Conservative party donor who runs the £5bn hedge fund CQS, has emerged as a financial backer of the climate sceptic thinktank founded by former chancellor, Lord Nigel Lawson. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/mar/27/tory-donor-climate-sceptic-thinktank The Guardian, March 2012
Global Warming Policy Foundation https://www.thegwpf.org/who-we-are/board-of-trustees/
Mr Grayling was repeatedly asked whether he agrees that man-made climate change is one of the “greatest threats” to the country. However, he would only say that he does believe that climate change “is an issue”. The Telegraph, February 2014
Headteachers who brainwash children with green propaganda are breaking the law, Michael Gove has suggested. The Education Secretary has read ‘with concern’ a report which accused ‘activist’ teaching staff of trying to turn pupils into ‘foot soldiers of the green movement’. […] A spokesman for Mr Gove said: ‘The Secretary of State read this report with concern. ‘Schools should not teach that a particular political or ideological point of view is right – indeed it is against the law for them to do so.’ The Daily Mail, April 2014
Michael Gove has abandoned plans to drop climate change from the geography national curriculum. The Guardian, July 2013
Energy minister Andrea Leadsom told a parliamentary fracking group that she had to ask whether climate change was real when she took the job. The Independent, October 2015
The Conservative energy and climate change minister, Matthew Hancock, has taken £18,000 from a key backer of the UK’s leading climate sceptic lobby group, the Guardian can disclose. According to official records, Hancock has accepted five donations over the years from City currency manager Neil Record, who has given money to the Global Warming Policy Foundation and is on the board of its campaigning arm. The Guardian, April 2015
Sir Michael Hintze, the hedge fund billionaire who gave £100,000 to Vote Leave, is a familiar figure in Conservative circles and attended at least one dinner in 2017 with the prime minister, sources said. The Guardian, July 2018
[Numerous donations from Michael Hintze] Register of Member’s Interests for Patrick McLoughlin, 18 January 2013
Treasury minister Liz Truss met with representatives of five libertarian groups during a recent visit to Washington DC that cost taxpayers more than £5000, Unearthed can reveal. The groups include think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute, that aim to shrink the size of the US government and scrap environmental protections and which often fail to declare the sources of their donations. Unearthed, December 2018
Address to the Bruges Group by the Rt. Hon. Priti Patel MP to mark the 30th Anniversary of Margaret Thatcher`s Bruges Speech The Bruges Group, October 2018
Cool Thinking on Climate Change The Bruges Group https://www.brugesgroup.com/media-centre/papers/8-papers/734-cool-thinking-on-climate-change
PHILIP Davies has thrown his weight behind his partner – Esther McVey – in the Tory leadership race. Keighley News, May 2019
Climate denial in the wider Conservative Party
Tory failure on climate targets
“About 250 planned onshore wind farms are likely to be cancelled
because of an early end to subsidies, the government has
said.”
“The UK government has announced it is axing a £1bn grant for
developing new carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.”
“The amount of household solar power capacity installed in the past two months has plummeted by three quarters following the government’s cuts to subsidies, according to new figures.” The Guardian, 8 April 2016
“The first carbon budget (2008 to 2012) was met and the UK is
currently on track to outperform on the second (2013 to 2017) and
third (2018 to 2022). However, it is not on track to meet the
fourth (2023 to 2027).”
“The Government is coasting on climate change. It is currently
relying on past successes to scrape by on its carbon budgets and
is not even on track to meet them in full.”
“One of the world’s leading climate scientists has launched a
scathing attack on the government’s fracking programme, accusing
ministers of aping Donald Trump and ignoring scientific
evidence.” Tory support for fracking
“We’re not turning our back on low carbon energy, but these sources aren’t enough. We need a mix. Latest estimates suggest that there’s about 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas lying underneath Britain at the moment – and that study only covers 11 counties. To put that in context, even if we extract just a tenth of that figure, that is still the equivalent of 51 years’ gas supply.” The Telegraph, 11 August 2013
“David Cameron says Britain has a "duty" to frack in the wake of the Ukraine crisis and pledges to have shale gas wells "up and running" in the UK by the end of this year.” The Telegraph, 26 March 2014
“This is an issue on which the hon. Gentleman and I are simply going to disagree. I think that shale gas has the potential to power economic growth in this country and to support thousands of jobs in the oil and gas industries and in other sectors. It will provide a new domestic energy source. We have more than 50 years’ drilling experience in the UK, and one of the best records in the world for economic development while protecting our environment. The shale wealth fund is going to provide up to £1 billion of additional resources to local communities, and local councils are going to be able to retain 100% of the business rates they collect from shale gas developments. We will be bringing forward further proposals in relation to this during this Parliament. This is an important potential new source of energy, and it is right that we should use it and take the benefits from it for our economy, for jobs and for people’s futures.” Hansard, 25 October 2017
“Business Secretary Greg Clark has attacked the current [fracking] planning process as “disappointingly slow”.” Energy Voice, 22 May 2018
“”There is an anti-gas view out there,” she told delegates, “and a view that we can go straight to an entirely renewable system”.” Utility Week, 6 February 2019
“Perry and officials met with all the key shale players – Cuadrilla, Ineos, iGas and Third Energy – along with oil and gas companies including BP on 21 May. While her meeting with wind power executives on the same day was recorded on an official transparency register, the shale event was not.” The Guardian, 26 October 2018
“Theresa May’s government has been accused of “trampling over democracy” by approving fracking at a second well near Blackpool while MPs are away from parliament and can’t challenge the decision. Energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry announced that Cuadrilla will be allowed to frack a second well at its Preston New Road site six days after parliament went into recess for the party conference season. Ms Perry had approved fracking at the first well in July, on the last day of parliament before the summer recess.” The Independent, 19 September 2018
“Pam Foster of Frack Free Lancashire said the timing of the announcement was symptomatic of the way the government operates over fracking, which is formally known as hydraulic fracturing. She told The Independent: “They know it’s totally unpopular; they know some of their own MPs are against it, so they sneak this through in an underhand manner. “They seek to avoid scrutiny at every twist and turn. The government has just been giving Cuadrilla whatever it wants, while we have been given redacted reports and reports that have been sat on for years.”” The Independent, 19 September 2018 |