BURSTMigration minister Mike Tapp accuses Reform UK’s head of policy Zia Yusuf of ‘snowflakery’
This is what the Conservative party says in its news release about why it wants to get rid of the Climate Change Act 2008. Interestingly, the party is talking about “replacing” the act, not just repealing it, but the Tories have not said what they would replace it with.
The party says:
The 2008 legislation has forced successive governments to introduce punitive measures that have hit family finances – including the Boiler Tax which will push up the price of gas boilers to force people to adopt heat pumps just for the purpose of meeting a self-imposed target.
The act ignores the fact that climate change is a global problem. If the British chemicals, cement, or metals industry shuts down and moves abroad to countries with cheaper but dirtier energy, then Britain won’t need any less chemicals, cement, or metals – we will just import more from abroad instead, and lose out on all the jobs, tax revenue, and economic growth. Britain will be poorer and global emissions will increase.
The scientific reality of climate change makes action from both government and business imperative. Scrapping the Climate Change Act would be a backwards step in achieving our shared objectives of reaching economic growth, boosting energy security, protecting our environment and making life healthier for future generations.
The Climate Act has been the bedrock for investment flowing into the UK and shows that decarbonisation and economic growth are not a zero-sum game. Businesses delivering the energy transition added £83bn to the economy last year alone, providing high-paying jobs to almost a million people across the UK. The UK’s climate governance and the cross-party consensus that has underpinned it has shaped long-term contracts to deliver renewable energy, investment in green technologies and our international leadership in decarbonisation.
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