Kemi Badenoch faces Net Zero revolt as Tory big beast James Cleverly warns her to ignore climate change 'luddites'
Sir James Cleverly will use a major speech tonight to urge her to position the Conservatives to work to 'set the pace' internationally on green technology so the UK can challenge China.
The former home and foreign secretary will lash out at the 'negative right' in British politics that claims 'the way things are now is just fine', as well as a 'negative left' that is 'suspicious of technology'.
His intervention comes as the Tories seek to take on Reform UK, which has pledged to scrap net zero entirely and whose deputy leader, Richard Tice, has claimed there is 'no evidence' for man-made climate change, contrary to scientific consensus.
But it also comes just three months after Mrs Badenoch 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.
In a speech to the Conservative Environment Network (CEN), the former home secretary, who ran against Mrs Badenoch for the party leadership last year, is expected to urge his party to 'push further, faster and smarter' and 'set the pace' internationally on green 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.'
Drawing on Britain's 'proud history of innovation', he will add: '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 intervention, Sir James's first major speech since last year's Tory leadership election, comes after Mrs Badenoch declared herself a 'net zero sceptic'.
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'.
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 Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Cooper defends live facial recognition expansion amid privacy row
The Home Secretary has defended the Government's expansion of live facial recognition technology as a 'targeted' crackdown on high-harm offenders, amid concerns over privacy. Yvette Cooper denied the technology was being used to catch lower-level crimes such as ticket-touting, as it has been previously in Wales, and said 'safeguards and protections' will govern its deployment. Critics including Labour peer Baroness Shami Chakrabarti have attacked new plans to roll out 10 vans equipped with facial recognition technology across seven police forces in England as part of a Government overhaul of neighbourhood policing. The former shadow attorney general said the expansion was a step towards a 'total surveillance society' in the UK. Asked whether the rollout would infringe on people's privacy, Ms Cooper said: 'Well, the way this technology is being used is to identify people who are wanted by the court, who maybe should be returned to prison, or who have failed to appear before the court, or who have breached things like sexual harm prevention orders, so serious criminals. 'And I think being able to identify them, alongside having proper legal safeguards and a legal framework in place because there do have to be safeguards and protections, but we also need to be able to use the technology to catch dangerous criminals and to keep communities safe.' In 2017, South Wales Police said facial recognition was being used to track suspects including ticket touts as the force prepared for the Champions League final in Cardiff. Pressed on whether she was happy for the technology to be deployed in this way, she said: 'No, that's not how they've (police in South Wales) used it. 'They used it for targeting where there's serious organised crime, where there are criminal gangs, but in every case that they do use it, they need to obviously have safeguards in place and we need to make sure that we've got a new legal framework for it to be operating under, and also that it can be used to tackle serious crimes and keep communities safe.' Ministers have said a new legal framework will be drawn up to support use of the technology following a consultation launching this autumn. Checks would only be done against police watchlists of wanted criminals, suspects and those subject to bail or court order conditions such as sex offenders, the Home Office said. The vans would be deployed across seven forces – Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Hampshire – in the coming weeks. They would be manned by trained officers operating within College of Policing guidance. But Lady Chakrabarti said the technology was 'incredibly intrusive' and had been 'developed pretty much completely outside the law'. 'Some would say this is yet another move towards a total surveillance society – challenges to privacy, challenges to freedom of assembly and association, and problems with race and sex discrimination because of the higher likelihood of false matches in the context of certain groups,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'It's particularly odd that this has all been developed pretty much completely outside the law.' She welcomed plans to consult ahead of possible new legislation, but warned that to date, 'it's been a bit of a Wild West'. Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson dismissed the claims, telling BBC Breakfast: 'With the greatest of respect, that's not what this is about. 'This is about giving the tools to our police officers to enable them to keep us safe.' Forces already deploying live facial recognition had used it to arrest rape, domestic abuse, knife crime and robbery suspects as well as sex offenders breaching their conditions. Meanwhile, the Home Office said every community across England and Wales had now been assigned a 'named, contactable' officer to handle reports of crimes such as anti-social behaviour. Their details would be made available for residents on their local force's website, it is understood. The pledge was made as part of the Government's previously announced Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, under which forces have signed up to a commitment to respond to neighbourhood queries within 72 hours. The Government said the move would help ensure 'the public will have consistent direct links to their local force, with dedicated anti-social behaviour leads and new visible patrols in town centres'.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Labour councillor ‘horrified' by own cutting throats comment at rally, jury told
A Labour councillor who called at an anti-racism rally for far-right activists' throats to be cut has told a jury he felt 'horrified' after realising what he had said. In the wake of rioting after the Southport murders last summer, Ricky Jones, 58, described far-right activists as 'disgusting Nazi fascists', his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. He told jurors on Wednesday that his comment did not refer to far-right protesters involved in the riots at the time, but to those who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them. A video showing Jones addressing the crowd in Walthamstow, east London, on August 7 last year, went viral on social media after the protest. Wearing a black polo top and surrounded by cheering supporters, the councillor said: 'You've got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays. 'They don't give a shit about who they hurt. 'They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.' He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd. Jones, who at the time worked as an official for the Transport Salaried Staff's Association (TSSA) union, later sent an edited version of his speech video to union members, the court heard. Asked by his defence barrister, Hossein Zahir KC, why he edited the video, Jones replied: 'When I had time to view the footage after the demonstration, I was shocked at what I had actually said. 'I was horrified. 'Under no circumstances did I want to portray that to anybody, so I edited that last bit out.' The unedited video was eventually posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, where it attracted millions of views, the trial heard. Jones told jurors he felt 'very emotional and very upset' after receiving pictures, the day before the rally, of National Front stickers that had been left on a train, which had razor blades hidden behind them – supposedly so that people who tried to remove the stickers would injure themselves. He had also received reports from union members that more razor blades had been found stuck between seats, Jones added. 'I was very concerned about what had happened on the train. 'I was thinking, this (the speech) is a good opportunity to raise what happened.' The father-of-four and grandfather described the mood in the crowd at the time as 'happy and joyful', adding: 'There clearly wasn't any upset or anger from any people in that scene, because they clearly knew it was about what happened on the train.' Prosecutor Ben Holt, cross-examining, told the defendant: 'Your words about slitting people's throats were not cheerful or happy.' Jones replied: 'I totally agree, I'm ashamed.' The defendant however denied intending to encourage violence towards far-right protesters. 'What violence could have anyone caused to those people in the train?' Jones said. 'It was nonsensical – I didn't believe there was a risk.' Jones, who has been a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, since 2019, was suspended by the Labour Party the day after the alleged incident. He was arrested on August 8 last year and interviewed at Brixton Police Station that night. The demonstration had been organised in response to plans for a far-right march outside Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau. It followed the disorder in parts of the UK last summer after the Southport murders. Jones, of Dartford, denies one count of encouraging violent disorder. The trial continues.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Labour minister vows ‘every community' in England and Wales to have contactable police officer
Labour minister Diana Johnston has vowed that 'every community' in England and Wales will now have a named and contactable police officer. Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday (13 August), the policing minister explained that 3,000 new police officers have been recruited to help in neighbourhoods 'up and down the country'. She said that members of the public are now able to find their local officer by entering their postcode on their force's website or enquiring over the phone. ' We wanted to make sure this works for policing. We're not just telling them we want them to make it work for them,' she said, confirming that the government has given the police £200m to implement this scheme.
