The comments made by George Eustice, the Secretary of State for the Environment, on 23 July 2021.
Food businesses across the country have been the hidden heroes of the pandemic. We are working closely with industry to allow staff to go about their essential work safely with daily testing.
The last 18 months have demonstrated that we have a highly resilient food supply chain. There are sufficient food supplies in the system and people can and should shop as normal.
The statement made by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, on 16 July 2021.
Air pollution is a national health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children and leading to thousands of premature deaths.
Despite the lack of Government support, our car and motorcycle scrappage scheme will continue to help low-income and disabled Londoners scrap their older, polluting vehicles and switch to walking, cycling and public transport or a cleaner vehicle.
In central London, the Ultra Low Emission Zone has already helped cut toxic roadside nitrogen dioxide pollution by nearly half and led to reductions that are five times greater than the national average. But pollution isn’t just a central London problem, which is why expanding the ULEZ later this year will benefit Londoners across the whole of the city and is a crucial step in London’s green recovery. There is no time to waste. We know pollution hits the poorest Londoners and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities the hardest, which is why I’m doing everything I can to improve the health for all Londoners.
We need the Government to follow London’s lead and help clean our filthy air once and for all, by strengthening the Environment Bill to include WHO recommended air quality limits to be met by 2030 and supporting a targeted national vehicle scrappage fund that will help motorists across the UK to ditch their polluting cars.
The comments made by Luke Pollard, the Shadow Environment Secretary, on 19 July 2021.
In yet another case of their actual delivery falling way short of this Government’s waffle, it is over thirty-months now since the Ivory Act was passed, with Michael Gove saying it would be in force by the end of 2019.
Ministers still haven’t used a single power in the Ivory Act. Media announcements don’t save animals from cruelty and extinction.
The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on 16 July 2021.
Reports of extreme flooding across Europe are extremely distressing. Our hearts go out to all those affected by this appalling situation, including the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives.
We need governments around the world – including our own – to focus on delivering climate adaptation measures, including flood resilience. And crucially we need strong action to cut emissions because every extra fraction of a degree of warming makes extreme weather events more likely.
This awful tragedy, following extreme heat in Pakistan and Canada, shows that while the climate crisis is the biggest long-term threat our world faces it is already happening now with devastating effects. No country is doing enough – and future generations will not forgive us for standing by.
The comments made by Emily Thornberry, the Shadow International Trade Secretary, on 15 July 2021.
What is happening to the Amazon rainforest is one of the worst man-made tragedies in history, and our own Prime Minister is one of the guilty men. He refused to support EU action in response to the Amazon fires in August 2019, and was thanked by the Bolsonaro government for doing so.
While the EU are now finally reconsidering their trade deal with Brazil out of concern for the Amazon, Boris Johnson is ploughing ahead with Britain’s negotiations regardless. And while Labour has proposed a due diligence law that would apply to all damaging deforestation, the Tory version only requires companies to comply with the local rules set by governments like Bolsonaro’s.
We will never stop and reverse the planet-destroying damage being done by men like Bolsonaro until governments like ours stand up to him, but under Boris Johnson, we are doing the opposite, standing by while he burns the Amazon with impunity.
The comments made by Victoria Prentis, the Farming Minister, on 13 July 2021.
We know that change can be challenging which is why we are committed to helping farmers and land managers throughout the agricultural transition to feel supported to make the best decisions for their farms, families and future.
As we continue to co-design and develop the future schemes it is important that the industry has access to expert support and knowledge. So I urge farmers and land managers to sign up to the Future Farming Resilience Fund now to ensure that come August they are able to use the help that is available to them.
The statement made by Jesse Norman, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, on 5 July 2021.
The Government are announcing today that legislation will be introduced at the earliest opportunity to allow a VAT zero rate to apply to trades in UK emissions trading scheme allowances within the VAT Terminal Markets Order (S11973/173) (TMO).
A UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) replaced the UK’s participation in the EU ETS on 1 January 2021. The scheme has been established to increase the climate ambition of the UK’s carbon pricing policy, while mitigating the risk of carbon leakage through free allowances.
Market participants can bid for UK ETS allowances on the UK auction platform or can acquire futures contracts in UK ETS allowances on the secondary market.
The TMO permits VAT zero rating for transactions on terminal commodity markets. It is seen as an important VAT trade facilitation measure by those involved in trading commodity futures contracts, where often on these markets there are very substantial volumes of transactions over short periods of time. The zero-rating relief provided by the TMO avoids the administrative and cash flow burdens of accounting for VAT and should have no effect on the VAT amount collected at the final stage of consumption.
I can confirm today the treatment will be provided from the time when these important trades commenced in May.
The comments made by Bridget Phillipson, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 30 June 2021.
There’s a real danger this green bonds announcement is all talk and no action – just like the Chancellor’s long delayed Net Zero Review – and a distraction from the critical job of halting climate breakdown.
We need far more details and a watertight guarantee that these bonds are spent properly on the green jobs and initiatives that will curb climate breakdown.
The Chancellor must stop dragging his heels, and publish his final report into the Net Zero Review which has now been delayed since Autumn 2020.
And he should hardwire his Net Zero targets into his upcoming spending review, as Labour would do.
The comments made by Rachel Maclean, the Transport Minister, on 30 June 2021.
With sales of EVs increasing and the government’s net zero ambitions accelerating, I want to make it as easy as possible for EV drivers to charge up their vehicles at public chargepoints right across the UK, regardless of their mobility.
We are taking action to provide accessibility guidance to both operators and drivers to make sure that the transition to zero-emission driving will benefit everyone in society as we build back better.
The comment made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Energy and Climate Change Minister, on 30 June 2021.
Coal powered the industrial revolution 200 years ago, but now is the time for radical action to completely eliminate this dirty fuel from our energy system.
Today we’re sending a clear signal around the world that the UK is leading the way in consigning coal power to the history books and that we’re serious about decarbonising our power system so we can meet our ambitious, world-leading climate targets.
The UK’s net zero future will be powered by renewables, and it is this technology that will drive the green industrial revolution and create new jobs across the country.