Have the Tories blown hot and cold on the environment?
From BBC News: Once in power, critics say, David Cameron’s enthusiasm for the green agenda began to wane, and some questioned his genuine commitment to the cause.There was a planned sell-off of state-owned woodland in England.
In 2013, it was reported that David Cameron had told Downing Street aides to “get rid of all the green crap” – referring to environmental levies on energy bills.
And he backed fracking, to the dismay of green campaigners.
After the 2015 election yielded a Conservative majority, the Green Deal for home insulation was scrapped and subsidies for on-shore wind farms came to an end a year earlier than initially planned.
Mrs May’s former communications director Katy Perrior has said the 25-year environment plan launched on Thursday was originally intended to be “as boring as possible,” and while the prime minister’s enthusiasm for protecting the environment “may not be insincere”, it is “certainly new”.
Cynics will accuse the government of sensing the environment could be a vote-winner and throwing its weight behind the green agenda.
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