Tony Blair warns Britain can’t stop climate change alone: Ex-PM suggests costly green policies are futile when UK’s emissions are dwarfed by China’s – as he makes break with Labour policy
- Sir Tony Blair, 70, said Britain should not ‘obsess’ over cutting carbon emissions
- It contradicts Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘green growth’ plans for a Labour Government
Britain should not obsess about cutting its carbon emissions, Sir Tony Blair said yesterday.
In a break with Labour policy, the former prime minister suggested it was futile to make big sacrifices to drive down the UK’s emissions when they are dwarfed by those from countries such as China.
He said even if the UK did a ‘huge amount’ it was ‘not really going to impact climate change’.
His comments fuelled a growing debate in both main parties about how far to pursue costly green policies.
Sir Keir Starmer has put ‘green growth’ at the heart of Labour’s plans for government and set a target of getting all of the UK’s electricity from green sources by 2030, which many experts believe will be near impossible to achieve.
In a break with Labour policy, Sir Tony Blair (pictured) suggested it was futile to make big sacrifices to drive down the UK’s emissions when they are dwarfed by those from countries such as China
Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) has put ‘green growth’ at the heart of Labour’s plans for government
… and we’ll rejoin the EU (eventually)
Sir Tony Blair has insisted a ‘future generation’ will take Britain back into the EU.
The staunch Remainer also described Brexit as a ‘constant sadness’, adding that he ‘wished [Brexit] had never happened’.
He told The New Statesman: ‘I believe at some point a future generation will take Britain back into Europe and, you know, you just have to look at what’s happened [since leaving].’ The former PM’s comments cast doubt on the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU if Labour wins the next general election.
Tory Eurosceptics said it was ‘remarkable’ that the ‘has-been’ Labour grandee had decided to comment on Brexit again and suggested he would be proved wrong.
Labour also plans to spend an eye-watering £28billion a year on green initiatives.
In an interview with the New Statesman, Sir Tony said the UK should ‘play its part’, but added: ‘Its part, frankly, is going to be less to do with Britain’s emissions.
‘One year’s rise in China’s emissions would outscore the whole of Britain’s emissions for a year.’
He claimed the UK should focus on strengths like technology and financing to help developing countries decarbonise faster rather than obsessing about emissions.
Other senior Labour figures have warned Sir Keir in recent weeks that the party’s expensive green agenda risks alienating the public during a cost of living crisis.
However, Ed Miliband, the architect of Labour’s environmental drive, yesterday insisted they would not be abandoned.
He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: ‘Keir Starmer is 100 per cent committed to the project of clean energy by 2030, which is the way to cut bills and tackle the climate crisis.’
Senior Conservatives have also questioned whether costly green policies should be shelved, such as the ban on new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.
Other green plans, such as a planned ‘hydrogen levy’ on energy bills are set to be ditched.
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