I understand the desire for politicians to take every opportunity to talk about their achievements in order to persuade voters that they are worth voting for. But politicians have a reputation for being careless with the truth, and too many modern politicians are taking their carelessness to the extreme. It starts with exaggeration and can quickly descend into downright lies. Lies told with a straight face, and repeated over and again even when challenged.
It says something about our political system that you won’t be turfed out of the House of Commons for lying, but you will be ejected if you point out that someone has just lied.
During his recent budget speech, the Chancellor attempted to take the credit for 90 per cent of the UK’s solar power having been installed in the last 13 years. He said: ‘It’s this government who fix the roof while the sun is shining’ – to loud cheers from the Tory backbenches.
Total greenwash tosh.
The truth is that solar power infrastructure has progressed in spite of the government, rather than because of it. And it is still just a fraction of where it would have been with proper support. After all – 90 per cent of Too Little is still Too Little. The Tories pulled the rug out from under the expanding domestic solar panel industry just as it was taking off. They trashed the zero carbon house-building regulations in 2015 before they could come into effect. They’ve failed to reduce the UK’s energy demand by, for example, insulating our notoriously outdated and leaky housing stock.
Since 2015 they’ve given £20bn more in support to fossil fuel producers than those of renewables. They’ve blocked onshore wind projects, and instead announced more than 100 new oil and gas licences.
They’ve even approved the opening of a new coal mine in Cumbria, claiming that the coal will be used by the UK’s steel industry when the truth is it’s too high in sulphur and 90 per cent of it will have to be exported.
As the climate and environmental crisis grows ever worse, we need honesty and integrity to address it, not greenwash.
Ken Huggins, North Dorset Green Party
