Responding to the 2021 Budget Statement, Crispin Truman, chief
executive of CPRE, the countryside charity, said:
‘The Chancellor’s Budget simply doesn’t add up – the government
can’t claim to have a ‘real commitment to green growth’ while
using funding models that systematically disadvantage rural
communities and worsen the climate emergency. By levelling up
between urban and rural investment, not just north and south, we
could regenerate many rural towns and villages that have been
long forgotten. It’s just not right that government spending per
person on public infrastructure is 44% higher for urban areas
than it is for rural areas with no major cities. We risk
levelling up northern cities to the level of London and leaving
rural areas stuck in disadvantage and decline’.
‘Today, the Chancellor has also missed a golden opportunity to
prove that the government really means business when it talks
about the UK being a genuine world leader in tackling the climate
emergency. What we need is for the government to help create
green and sustainable jobs up and down the country that help real
people, while also making the UK economy greener. The Chancellor
mentioned 'green growth', 'green industries' and 'green projects'
nine times but there’s nothing green about the jobs created by a
new coal mine in Cumbria. He should be stimulating jobs in areas
like Cumbria with renewable energy and energy efficiency, rather
than through a coal mine that will be disastrous for carbon
emissions and disastrous for our international reputation on
climate in equal measure. All in all, a disappointing Budget for
climate, communities and the countryside.’
