Chris Huhne
Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh
NEW GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT HIGHLIGHTS PAST FAILINGS – HUHNE
Today’s Labour announcement on climate change only highlights its nine years of failure on the issue, according to Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Chris Huhne MP.
His comments came in response to David Miliband’s speech to the Labour conference, in which he stated that tackling climate change was a “Labour issue” which “Labour understood” and had the solutions to.
Responding Mr Huhne said:
“If Labour really did understand climate change then emissions would not be rising and the level of green taxes would not be falling.
“The £10m for renewables announced today is welcome, but nothing new, and merely underlines Labour’s failings. If this modest level of investment can generate enough renewable energy to serve the houses of Exeter, Oxford, Norwich and Newcastle combined then why are they pushing ahead with a new generation of expensive nuclear power stations.
“This increase is designed to camouflage the appalling cuts in both research into the impact of climate change on plants and wildlife, and also the idiot a cuts in flood defence budgets.
“Only the Liberal Democrats are putting forward the policies for raising green taxes which will produce the behavioural changes needed to safeguard our environment, without increasing the overall tax burden.”