14/07/08 - Labour MP Should Come Clean On Climate Change

SNELGROVE SHOULD COME CLEAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE, SAYS BUCKLAND

Today’s report revealing the government’s failure to cut carbon emissions makes a mockery of Anne Snelgrove’s claims about Labour’s record on climate change, Robert Buckland, the Conservative’s prospective MP for South Swindon, has said.

Mr Buckland was speaking after a parliamentary committee said the government’s “moral authority” on environmental issues had been damaged because it was failing to meet its own targets.[1]

“Today’s report reveals that the government’s carbon emissions had reduced by a tiny 4% by 2006/7, compared with a target to be carbon neutral in just four years”, Robert Buckland said.  “The committee says it is ‘extremely disappointed’ – that’s an understatement”.

Mr Buckland continued: “Less than four months ago, local Labour MP Anne Snelgrove said the UK government were ‘global leaders in getting climate change under control’.[2]  Perhaps she’d like to set the record straight in the light of these figures”.

“Ms Snelgrove knows the government is failing to take effective action on climate change because she introduced her own bill on the subject.  We’ve already had figures from the Sustainable Development Commission showing fourteen government departments are less energy efficient now than they were in 2000.  Now we have today’s report.  It’s a triple whammy and proves that the government is just talking hot air on climate change.”

“What we need is a proper and complete response from the government, not the hotchpotch of inadequate proposals, failed targets and bills from backbench MPs which we're getting from Labour”, Mr Buckland concluded.

[1] ‘Making Government Operations More Sustainable’, Report of Environment Audit Committee, 14 July 2008.

[2] ‘MP is a Climate Hero’, ‘Swindon Advertiser’, 25 March 2008.