Kennedy: ‘Green thread’ to our policies.
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has championed his party’s policies on the environment, saying there is a “green thread” running throughout the manifesto.
Mr Kennedy said that the Lib Dems would ensure that 20 per cent of the UK’s energy is generated by renewable sources by 2020 and that no commercial GM crops are grown, unless they are proved to be safe for people and the environment.
Mr Kennedy also pointed out that the Liberal Democrats are committed to Britain taking the lead on negotiations for the next set of targets for greenhouse gas emissions, recycling 60 per cent of all household waste by 2012, cutting back Labour’s road-building programme and a moratorium on new incinerators and nuclear power stations.
He explained: “I, personally, am passionate about the environment. For me, politics is not just about helping people to improve their lives now; it is also about taking responsibility for future generations.
“That is why action on the environment runs – as a green thread – through our manifesto. On the economy, education, health, transport or foreign affairs, we show how our green policies would work to protect and improve the environment.”
Mr Kennedy went on to reveal figures that show environmentally damaging behaviour cost Britain £67 billion last year, equivalent to last year’s budget for the NHS.
The Liberal Democrats leader insisted: “Time is not on our side. The reality of climate change is with us here and now. If Tony Blair had devoted even a tenth of the political energy, wealth and resources that have been expended over Iraq, to convincing George Bush of the urgency of the environmental threat, imagine where we could be by now.”
The party criticised Mr Blair for being “all talk and no action” over the environment and pointed out that emissions have risen under Labour.
Environment spokesman Norman Baker said that the policies of the “toxic Tories” would be a “disaster” for the environment, noting that Michael Howard had been Environment Minister when the UK had been labelled “the dirty man of Europe”.
Tony Blair, he said, was “all talk but no action” on climate change.
Friends of the Earth said that the Lib Dems policies were welcome, but they failed to set clear enough targets on reducing the emission of green house gases.
Executive director Tony Juniper, said: “The Lib Dems have clearly tried to build environmental policies into their manifesto at every level and have produced the greenest manifesto of the major parties at Westminster. However, more specific commitments are needed on climate change so we can clearly see what level of action would be taken on this key issue.”
But Fraser Kemp, the Labour Party’s campaign spokesman, accused Mr Kennedy of “brass neck”, claimed the Lib Dems had opposed such policies at local level.
Mr Kemp said: “Charles Kennedy’s brass neck is astounding.
“The Lib Dems want 20 per cent renewable energy use by 2020 yet he opposed wind farms in his own constituency, because of what he freely admits was ‘calculation’.
“Norman Baker says the Lib Dems want to extend road charging across the UK yet the Lib Dems campaigned against it fiercely in Edinburgh because it was not an ‘attractive’ option for them.
“It’s the same old story from the Lib Dems. Fine words in Westminster, rank opportunism locally.”
