The Conservative Party abandoned the “impossible” zero-2050 target in a major turnaround, overturning a long-standing consensus on solving a “climate emergency.” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch delivered a major speech this morning illuminating why she abandoned the policy and refused to set new goals. This is the highlight.
We rely on the inheritance of previous generations. For three centuries, every era in our country's history has left a better legacy for our children.
The sacrifice of our ancestors laid the greatness of Britain. They build, innovate, make difficult decisions. They never assumed that prosperity was guaranteed, they guaranteed prosperity.
But this has made the assumption that Britain will always be wealthy. We are a wealthy country, but we are getting weaker due to complacency. We are losing resilience, we can't do something like we used to, and our build won't be fast. We spend too much on debt, too much on welfare, and too little on defense.
We are not growing as we should. …We are not creating legacy for the next generation. Worse, we don’t recognize that the world has changed and we are mortgaging the future of our children. We are making them harder and harder overall. …
We have suffered the most serious failures in the history of the Party. We replaced the principle-based government, which has succeeded in the managementism of the workforce and has given our power to Quangos and the courts.
We assume we will always be rich, so we focus on the status quo, not the future, and now labor is back. They have made everything worse.
Jobs are disappearing, taxes are rising, and growth is decreasing. They are undermining education and they have no idea that real regulatory reform is needed.
The public made it very clear that the Conservatives need some time to stay away from the government. Our job now is to use this time wisely – as Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron have done in past generations.
Just like the 1970s and 2000s, our parties couldn’t return to the office with simple answers or hurry announcements.
We must develop reliable plans to reflect shared conservative values of personal responsibility, citizenship, reasonable money, family, freedom, etc.
Let's start today. By talking about one of the biggest problems our country and our world will face in the decades to come and show that conservatives are once again engaged in dealing with reality and the problems we face. …
Cheap and abundant energy is the basis of civilization we know today. We are in danger, but that's exactly what has been happening for 20 years and is now starting to cause real pain to everyday people and businesses.
Electricity bill [is] Too high, much higher than nearby and comparative countries. …. A large portion of our existing bills is not direct energy costs. People are working to pay them, and businesses, especially those in manufacturing, are closing, and there are no real plans to reduce costs.
That certainly cannot be held. This is a fantasy politics with nothing, and promises that the earth also pays the price. …
Never had a detailed plan. Ed Miliband's Climate Change Act 2008, no plans. There is no plan for the purifying legislation in 2019. A ten million, 30-year project touches every aspect of our life, and within 90 minutes, it is decided that there is no vote.
There were only two cautious notes in the speeches of the 22 MPs that day. I am one of them. I asked for a plan, I asked that day, and a few days later. I've waited, I've waited. 845 days later, one came. And it's not enough. …
We need a serious approach, we have to stop pretending it is simple, we have to stop the government through the press release, there is no policy plan.
Anyone who does any serious analysis knows that without a significant drop in our living standards, or worse, we can’t achieve zero through bankruptcy.
Without the rest of the world, we are making our country less secure, less secure and resilient. Let me give you three truths in the core of zero net. First, the published plans are totally confused. Indeed, the UK has made the most progress in developed countries, but we are responsible for only 1% of global emissions. Even if we reach absolute zero, we won’t be net zero globally if other countries are paying attention to us. …
Our success in reducing emissions has also achieved costs, the highest energy bill in developed countries. …
The real reason no one in the Labor government talks about proper overall plans is that they know that this will reveal the catastrophic nature of the actual costs for families, businesses and our economy. …
Secondly, even with a plan, we are behind. Let's look at a simple example. By 2040, the Climate Change Commission said more than half of UK homes need to tear off boilers and replace them with heat pumps. On that timeline, we couldn’t do it fast enough. …
Heat pumps run on a lot of expensive electricity and it turns out that many people just don't like them. …
Most of them are installed through some form of government subsidy, or I would like to call it taxpayer money. …
The good news is that costs have fallen over the past decade. This is good news. Ten years ago, we were very dependent on China on all key components. Today, we are more dependent. Look at the dozen manufacturers of solar panels, they are almost all Chinese. …
These three facts are why I call myself a net zero skeptic: chaotic plans, unrealistic goals and deadlines, over-reliance on China. We must begin to recognize clear vision. Net Zero makes us dangerously rely on countries that do not have our value and risk our own security. …
Now it's time to stop pretending that everything will be fine. And I'm not arguing about whether there is climate change. I really want to leave a better environmental inheritance for my children and your children. However, by 2050, we don’t seem to be near net zero. …This is what happens when politics becomes fantasy. Maybe some of them will change, but it doesn't seem hopeful.
I often say that when you want to help someone, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they need to hear. We have to tell the truth.
By 2050, a pure plan is impossible. We have to do better. That's why as part of our policy update, we will do something that labor failed to do in the 14 years of the opposition. We will deal with reality, face reality problems, answer real questions and prepare plans.
