We’ve already reported the cabinet row ahead of Monday’s decision over carbon targets, with Vince Cable among those warning about the implications on Britain’s economic competitiveness.
David Cameron and George Osborne have a complex decision to make in weighing up their promise to be “the greenest government ever” and their desperate need to get the economy on track again.
And now Ed Miliband has weighed in, saying he is “dismayed at the news that the recommendations (from the committee on climate change) may be watered down.
I’ve seen a letter that the leader of the opposition is about to send to the prime minister, suggesting that any such dilution would mark an end to the cross-party consensus on climate change.
Miliband writes that there is already business uncertainty about the government’s environmental policies. Rejecting the fourth carbon budget next week “risks turning uncertainty into a spiral of doubt“. And it would damage the momentum towards an international green deal, he claims.
You can read the full text here: miliband letter first page, miliband letter second page.
We’ve heard that the deal still hasn’t quite been finalised. Apparently if the target is accepted (60 per cent carbon cuts by 2030) David Cameron will announce it, taking the credit. If the target is shelved there may be a more low-profile announcement.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey