Archived press release

Will labour go green, grey or brown?

14 May 2001

The first week of the Election campaign saw both Labour and the Tories bend over backwards to annoy and alienate green voters. Tony Blair launched the Election campaign and made several major speeches without mentioning the environment at all. William Hague tried to buy his way back from the brink of electoral disaster with a bribe for car drivers, despite all the pollution, congestion and destruction this policy would cause.

Will the second week be any better? Labour publishes its Election Manifesto on Wednesday. Friends of the Earth has produced a briefing paper setting out what Labour should say, if it is serious about tackling Britain's environmental crisis, and what it could say if it suddenly decided to be completely honest about its record and current plans. (Copies of the briefing are available from FOE Press Office)

SHOULD SAY:

• On climate change, Labour should promise to meet its previous target of a 20% cut in carbon dioxide emissions over 1990 levels by 2010. Means should include planning to set a target of generating 20% of electricity from renewables by 2010.
• On farming, Labour should promise a White Paper on Sustainable Farming, aiming to increase the amount of land devoted to organic production to 30% of farming land by 2010 (currently 70% of organic produce is imported).
• On GM food, Labour should promise not to let commercial growing go ahead unless and until GM crops and foods can be guaranteed to pose no risk to wild species or human health.
• On transport, Labour should promise to set a national road traffic reduction target of 10% on 1990 levels by 2010, to recreate a publicly controlled and accountable railway network and operations, and to build no new roads or road developments that threaten nationally important protected wildlife areas and National Parks
• On waste, Labour should drop its disastrous plans for new incinerators around Britain and provide every household with a high quality, doorstep recycling service, with a target of 50% domestic waste to be recycled by 2010.
• On pollution, Labour should promise to phase out all known hormone-disrupting chemicals and pesticides, as well as synthetic chemicals which build-up in people's bodies or the environment.
• On taxation, Labour should promise a comprehensive green tax and spending strategy, covering polluter pays taxes to target unsustainable use of natural resources, energy and fuels, synthetic chemicals, and technologies. Revenues from green taxes should be recycled to fund green tax credits and similar incentives, and to reduce employers' National Insurance Contributions.
• On spending, Labour should promise increased spending on rural buses, and on rail services and infrastructure, national waste minimisation, recycling and reuse programmes, energy conservation programmes (including further action on fuel poverty), and green farming and organic conversion (a minimum 25% of all support for agriculture should be spent on these methods by 2005).

COULD SAY:

Unfortunately, judging from its record in Government and its Election statements so farm Labour is not likely to produce a very green manifesto. In fact if the Party suddenly decided to be completely honest with the electorate it might make some of the following "promises":

• We will try to implement the proposals contained in our Climate Change Programme, unless we think they might prove unpopular
• We will maintain our pile of untreated nuclear waste at Sellafield, allow BNFL to import even more nuclear waste and plutonium from around the world, and press our European colleagues to accept US proposals that carbon dioxide savings from nuclear power abroad should be counted toward Kyoto targets
• We've given up on our promise to cut road traffic. So we will build lots of new roads, neglect public transport, and fail to meet our pledge to recreate a publicly controlled, publicly accountable rail industry
• We will allow dozens of new incinerators to be built around the country
• We won't cut pollution in our heartlands, where Britain's factories pump out most pollution
• We don't care about the continued use of chemicals which build-up in people's bodies
• We will leave it to directors to decide how much reporting is required on their companies' behaviour and impacts on society and the environment
• We put free trade before fair trade.

Commenting, FOE Executive Director Charles Secrett said:
"So far in this Election campaign, Labour and the Tories have both done a fine job of alienating anyone who cares about our environment. Labour has an important chance to do better this Wednesday. The Party could set out radical but realistic action on key green issues like climate change, GM crops, organic farming, waste andf public transport. Or it could set out why it thinks its current grey (and Brown) approach is preferable.

Anything would be better than another boring, bland document full of glossy photos and adland blurb. Will Labour finally begin to rise to the green challenge?"

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust