For weeks now Gordon Brown has been flourishing his green credentials on the international political scene, but the authority and sincerity of the Prime Minister has once again being called into question this time by Sir Jonathon Porritt, Labour’s outgoing chief environmental adviser. Porritt, former director of Friends of the Earth and labour’s top green advisor for over 9 years, accused the government and ministers of failing to encourage sustainable development due to the governments’ adherence to the seductive economic policies of Margaret Thatcher. In an interview with the independent, Porritt stated that Gordon Brown while he was chancellor had no time for green issues and did in fact consistently hinder Tony Blair’s domestic environmental initiatives. Sir Jonathon also argued that during Blair’s stewardship, Gordon Brown didn’t ‘get’ climate change and the issues surrounding it and instead disregarded environmental matters as “part of that middle-class stuff going on over there” while he focused upon “the serious business of sorting out equity issues and entitlements, and how to make the economy really efficient.”
Porritt also attacked the government’s plans for a third runway at Heathrow and suggested that it was a “ludicrous decision, with no serious intellectual or economic rationale.” Although the majority of the article was critical of the government, Sir Jonathon did praise Gordon Brown for his recent efforts on the international and domestic stage. Porritt argued that the Prime Ministers views on the environment and climate change have changed a lot in the last few years due to the impact on issues such as global poverty and Africa, two topics that the PM has continually championed both at home and on the international arena. Sir Jonathon also said “I don’t think he had thought terribly deeply about it (climate change & the environment) when he became Prime Minister, but to be fair, he’s now much better informed, and he’s really got his head around these things,” he says. “At the recent G8 meeting and the subsequent meeting with China and India he was playing an extremely significant role in the negotiations.”
In response to the criticisms the government insisted that they were committed to addressing the problems of global warming and worldwide climate change. A government spokesperson assured critics that they working hard towards reaching the G8 targets.
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