Ditching climate targets will see Tories punished, Coffey warns

Ditching climate targets will see Tories punished in next Election, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey warns fellow MPs

• Minister has warned her colleagues not to drop their climate commitments 
• Tories narrowly retained Uxbridge and South Ruislip prompting policy rethink
• Zac Goldsmith has claimed Prime Minister was ‘uninterested’ in green issues

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey has said the Tories will lose the next General Election if they abandon green policies.

In a warning to her colleagues who are lobbying the Prime Minister to drop climate commitments due to the cost-of-living crisis, she said voters cared about the planet.

The Cabinet Minister addressed the issue for the first time since the Conservatives’ Uxbridge by-election win prompted a rethink on the environmental agenda.

‘In order to win the next Election, we need to continue to show that we care about the environment,’ she told The Mail on Sunday.

‘We also need to show that there is a way to do that which doesn’t put burdens on hard-working people.’ 

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey has said the Tories will lose the next General Election if they abandon green policies

The Environment Secretary said voters cared about the planet and the Government needed to ‘continue campaigning to protect the climate’

Her remarks will be taken as a show of defiance amid rumours that she is likely to be moved during a Cabinet reshuffle, which is expected in September.

She said that the environment was important to voters – and the Party, adding: ‘Conservation is literally in our name.

‘There’s been a lot of noise over the last few weeks about this Government walking away from the environment – but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth,’ she said.

‘Trust us on our record, not on the clickbait,’ she added, insisting that the Government needed to continue campaigning to protect the climate to win over voters.

READ MORE: Hundreds of motorists fight back against Sadiq Khan as they launch protest against ULEZ through London 

‘It’s a Conservative Government that has cut carbon faster than any G7 nation, and we did that while proving you don’t need to add burdens on people.’

Ms Coffey added: ‘Any Conservative knows that to have sustainable food security and economic prosperity you need to protect the environment. 

‘Our constituents care about their green spaces, and MPs get more emails about animal welfare than anything else.

‘We have created or restored habitat the size of Dorset, established 100 Marine Protected Areas, improved the conservation status of 96 priority species and more.’

She added that Rishi Sunak himself was committed to setting environmental targets and working globally to protect the climate.

Her defence came after former environment minister Zac Goldsmith claimed the Prime Minister was ‘uninterested’ in green issues.

‘That commitment to the environment extends to the Prime Minister himself,’ she said.

‘One of the first things I spoke to him about was setting legally binding environmental targets, and the importance of agreeing a Global Deal for Nature at the UN summit in Montreal, which we were crucial to securing.

‘As an MP, he personally campaigned for the coast-to-coast path, which will help improve people’s access to some of the loveliest parts of our country.’

The Tories narrowly retained Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in last month’s by-election.

The unexpected win was attributed to how unpopular London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) is in outer London. 

The result prompted calls for a rethink on the green agenda in both the Conservative and Labour parties.

Mr Sunak later told motorists he was ‘on their side’, ordering a review of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, while Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Khan should ‘reflect’ on Ulez.

Mr Khan has increased the amount available under the scrappage scheme for vehicles but is pressing ahead with the extension of Ulez to outer London later this month.

Under the scheme, drivers of the most polluting vehicles will be subject to a £12.50 daily charge.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is pressing ahead with the extension of Ulez to outer London 

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