Archived press release

FOE Demands New Labour Green Action, Not Words

28 September 1998

Environment pressure group Friends of the Earth today slammed New Labour for producing“more green smoke than the Wizard of Oz”. FOE is calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to live up to his advance promises at the last three Labour Conferences and announce some new legislation on the environment.

Areas for action include:

. Transport. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott 's Transport White Paper was given a generally favourable reception by greens and public transport campaigners. But Tony Blair has moved to block Mr Prescott from getting a Transport Bill in the next Queen's Speech. As leaked to FOE, Mr Prescott has been reduced to trying to pass parts of his White Paper into law in London through the Bill to set up a Mayor for London. Even the promise to set up a new Strategic Rail Authority, to regulate the privatised shambles on our railways, cannot be put into effect

. Road Traffic. Labour has backed two Road Traffic Reduction Acts drafted and successfully promoted by Friends of the Earth and others. But paragraph 2.25 of the White Paper on Transport backed away from any promise to cut the number of cars on the road, and promised only to “set the framework to reduce road traffic growth”

. Climate Change. Labour fought the election promising to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the UK by 20% over 1990 levels by the year 2010. More recently Ministers have talked only about the less radical targets set at the Kyoto climate summit and negotiated with EU partners (12.5% over 1990 levels by 2012).

. Nuclear Power. Labour promised to build no new nuclear power stations. But following confidential talks in Opposition between the Party and the nuclear industry, the Government is backing BNFL in seeking a commercial future for Sellafield by reprocessing foreign spent nuclear fuel. This could lead to a huge rise in the volume of highly radioactive waste in Britain, which would have to be safely stored for more than 10,000 years [1]. Peter Mandelson has even begun to consider the possible privatisation of

BNFL, which could only be achieved if billions of pounds of uncovered liabilities were written off by the taxpayer.

. Wildlife Protection. Over 300 Sites of Special Scientific Interest are damaged every year,by development, roads, and bad agricultural practice. In five years from 1991 to 1996 one fifth of all the SSSIs in England and Wales were damaged. Since the Second World War,up to half our remaining ancient woodland has been lost, half our fens and coastal marshes have gone or been badly damaged, four fifths of lowland grasslands on chalk and limestone have been lost or damaged, and 95% of our flower-rich meadows have been lost. Environment Minister Michael Meacher has promised to act to save threatened SSSIs, but there is no sign of the necessary Wildlife Bill in the next Queen's Speech.

Commenting, FOE Executive Director Charles Secrett, said:

“Labour was elected amidst clouds of green smoke and the roll of radical thunder. But as in the Wizard of Oz, all this sound and fury conceals a frightened little man behind a curtain, hoping no-one will notice that not much is really going on. It's long past time for words. Everyone in this country who cares about the environment wants action. And that action can't come from Michael Meacher alone, or even from John Prescott. It has to start from the top, from the Prime Minister. So far, we have seen nothing but obstruction from No10 and the Prime Minister's Policy Unit. Tony Blair, where are your green laws?”

Monday 28th September: 1pm to 2pm, Neville Room, Stakis Hotel

Fighting Climate Change and Creating Jobs
speakers include Environment Minister Rt Hon Michael Meacher MP

Monday 28th September: 7pm to 8.30pm, Opera House Balcony Bar

Sustainable Communities and the Need for New Homes
speakers include Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong MP

Thursday 1st October: 12noon to 2pm, Opera House Balcony Bar

Traffic Reduction Targets and Integrated Transport Policy
speakers include Joan Walley MP

Thursday 1st October: 5.45pm to 7pm, Shire Suite, Carlton Hotel

The Case for Better Countryside Protection
speakers include Environment Minister Rt Hon Michael Meacher MP

[1] In 1994 (the year that the THORP reprocessing plant began operating) there were 40,000 tonnes of Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) in store at Sellafield. Current Government estimates are that the level of ILW in the UK (about 80% at Sellafield) will rise to 136,000 cubic metres in 2010 . Figures provided by BNFL to the Government's Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee show that this amount would rise to 256,000 cubic metres if BNFL succeeds in getting new contracts and reprocesses all overseas spent fuel identified in the 1996/7 Business Plan for the THORP plant.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust