Tories must reject climate change ‘luddites' on left and right, warns Cleverly
In a speech to the Conservative Environment Network (CEN), the former home secretary is expected to urge his party to 'push further, faster and smarter' and 'set the pace' internationally on green technology.
As first reported in the Daily Telegraph, he will argue that the UK is 'caught between two tribes of neo-luddites', criticising a 'negative right' that claims 'the way things are now is just fine' and a 'negative left' that is 'suspicious of technology'.
He will say: 'The 'let's not move forward' tribe is in a bidding war with the 'let's move backwards' tribe. They're both wrong.'
The intervention, Sir James's first major speech since last year's Tory leadership election, comes after Kemi Badenoch declared herself a 'net zero sceptic'.
The Conservative leader kicked off her party's policy renewal process in March by saying it was 'impossible' to reach net zero by 2050, a target the Tories had been committed to since 2019.
Meanwhile, Reform UK has pledged to scrap net zero entirely and its deputy leader, Richard Tice, has claimed there is 'no evidence' for man-made climate change, contrary to scientific consensus.
In his CEN speech, Sir James is expected to urge a different course, saying the Conservatives 'must embrace a future where environmental polities encourage investment in new technologies, support the development of new industries, and create the jobs of tomorrow'.
Drawing on Britain's 'proud history of innovation', he will say: 'We can lead once again, this time in the realm of green technology.
'While government plays a role, the private sector must be the engine driving this green revolution.
'The UK is advancing rapidly in renewable energy generation, clean transport, and carbon capture. But we must push further, faster and smarter.'
The former foreign secretary will also call for the UK to play a leadership role on climate and export new technologies around the world.
And he will warn that nations such as China could take the lead internationally if Britain steps back.
Sir James will say: 'It's in our national interest to ensure no country – whether China or anyone else – monopolises the resources powering tomorrow's industries.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Home Office plans to spend £2.2bn of foreign aid on asylum support this year
International rules allow countries to count first-year costs of supporting refugees as overseas development assistance (ODA). The figures, first reported by the BBC, were published in recent days on the Home Office website. The Home Office said it is 'urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs' which will cut the amount spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. It also said it was expected to have saved £500 million in asylum support costs in the last financial year, and that this had saved £200 million in ODA which had been passed back to the Treasury. A total of 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March this year. This figure is down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079, and 6% lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier. Asylum seekers and their families are housed in temporary accommodation if they are waiting for the outcome of a claim or an appeal and have been assessed as not being able to support themselves independently. They are housed in hotels if there is not enough space in accommodation provided by local authorities or other organisations. Labour has previously said it is 'committed to end the use of asylum hotels over time', adding that under the previous Conservative government at one stage 'more than 400 hotels were in use and almost £9 million per day was being spent'. Jo White, chairwoman of the Red Wall group of Labour MPs, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday: 'We need to be looking at things like ECHR article eight. I don't think anything's off the table … including looking at new options such as processing abroad. 'So, we have to be open to see how we can move move that backlog as quickly as possible. I'm getting impatient. 'I know my colleagues in parliament are getting impatient and we're pressing the Government as hard as we can on this.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure and are urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs. 'This will ultimately reduce the amount of official development assistance spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. 'We are immediately speeding up decisions and increasing returns so that we can end the use of hotels and save the taxpayer £4 billion by 2026. 'The Rwanda scheme also wasted £700 million to remove just four volunteers – instead, we have surged removals to nearly 30,000 since the election, are giving law enforcement new counter-terror style powers, and increasing intelligence sharing through our Border Security Command to tackle the heart of the issue, vile people-smuggling gangs.'
Evening Standard
an hour ago
- Evening Standard
Home Office plans to spend £2.2bn of foreign aid on asylum support this year
Labour has previously said it is 'committed to end the use of asylum hotels over time', adding that under the previous Conservative government at one stage 'more than 400 hotels were in use and almost £9 million per day was being spent'.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
How Robert Jenrick skewered Kemi Badenoch's Tory leadership reboot
Robert Jenrick 's attention-grabbing videos have angered other senior Tories as the party desperately tries to raise the profile of their beleaguered leader, Kemi Badenoch. The shadow justice secretary The clip, which follows others on a range of issues including bin collections in Birmingham and the government's deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, was watched more than 10 million times. But the move overshadowed Ms Badenoch's own video meeting grooming gang victims, and is far from the first time Jenrick has garnered publicity apparently at the expense of his party leader. A recent mishap, where hundreds of Westminster insiders were added to a WhatsApp group publicising his London marathon run, led to Badenoch being asked if Jenrick, who ran against her for the leadership of the party, posed a fresh threat to her. She laughed it off. But party insiders have told The Independent his interventions are leading to tensions with other members of the shadow cabinet. It comes as the Tories try to raise the profile of Badenoch, as even some of her closest political allies - including shadow chancellor Mel Stride - admit she needs to improve her performance. This week's tracker poll by Techne UK puts the Tories on just 17 per cent (up one per cent) - a full 14 points behind Reform on 31 per cent, with Labour also struggling on 23 per cent. The polling showed that well over a third, 37 per cent, of 2024 general election Tory voters have now deserted them for Reform. Recent focus groups, held by the pollsters More in Common (MIC), suggest one of the problems is that very few people know who Badenoch is. When groups of former Tory voters are shown clips of the Conservative leader speaking, they like her, but for most of them, it is the first time they have seen her, MIC found. In a bid to bolster her position, insiders plan to lean into Ms Badenoch's forthright personality, in what has been dubbed the 'Let Kemi be Kemi' strategy - a nod to the famous West Wing 'Let Bartlet Be Bartlet' quote. And, like Jenrick, there is a hope that her clips will go viral. There was surprise when a video of Ms Badenoch telling two incredulous BBC Breakfast hosts that she had not watched the Netflix hit Adolescence took off online. At one point, Badenoch told them she already understood the issues highlighted by the programme, adding 'I don't need to watch Casualty to know about the NHS'. Her supporters want her to double down on what is seen as her 'authenticity', at a time when voters appear to be turning away from career politicians to support people such as Donald Trump and the Reform leader Nigel Farage. In the background, there is also frustration about the amount of airtime Badenoch gets on the main broadcasters. The issue is one all opposition leaders struggle with, as the government is inevitably seen as more newsworthy. But it is seen particularly difficult at the moment, at a time of huge international news, with President Trump in the White House, war raging on the edge of Europe in Ukraine and the ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Insiders claim Badenoch is relaxed about Jenrick straying into briefs that are not his own, especially given huge demands on the time of the leader of the opposition. However, sources say there have been tensions with other members of her shadow cabinet. One senior figure told The Independent: 'Some have been very annoyed… That has caused tensions. Kemi has a challenge managing the competition in her team.' Another insider said: "There's no discipline. Basically, shadow cabinet members can do what they want with no central grid. It's causing complete chaos.' A supporter of Jenrick accused some frontbenchers of being 'jealous' that he was able to make headlines. Earlier this week, even one of her political allies, shadow chancellor Mel Stride compared Badenoch to Margaret Thatcher and said: 'She will get better through time. At the media, she will get better ... and at the dispatch box.' The 'Iron Lady', however, could never have predicted a time when the future of the Tory leadership could depend in part on the battle of the viral video clips.
