Cameron's Conservatives back-pedalling on the environment
October 11, 2008 7:58 PM
Sharon Bowles MEP
When David Cameron became leader of the Conservative Party in December 2005 he said the environment would be a top priority for the party. With great fanfare, he launched a policy review, under John Gummer and Zac Goldsmith, and presented himself at high profile photo opportunities at the London Wetland Centre, cycling to work, and visiting a glacier in the Arctic Circle ('hugging a husky'), among others.
It was clear that Mr Cameron saw the environment not just as a potential vote winner, but as symbolic of his plan to modernise and re-brand the Conservative Party - to get rid of the 'nasty party' image.
The Liberal Democrats welcomed Mr Cameron's apparent 'green conversion'. We even worked with the Conservatives to try to build a cross-party consensus on climate change. But we warned that the real test would come when Mr Cameron had to move beyond photo-opportunities and rhetoric and start making difficult policy choices.
Two and a half years later Mr Cameron and his party are failing this test. They are -
BACK-PEDALLING on earlier policy suggestions
RELEGATING green issues below other priorities
FAILING to practice what they preach on the environment, personally and where they have power
A party still largely UNCONVINCED that climate change in a serious problem
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