Policymaking that delivers sanctions and not benefits is doing more harm to the environmental cause - David Behrens

While Yorkshire drowns in the rain, Rhodes burns. If only it were possible to collect the water from one part of the world and drop it somewhere else.But if we knew how to tame the climate we’d also have figured out how to control the Metropolitan Police and the National Westminster Bank. As it is, we content ourselves with making concerned noises to unburden our guilt at having possibly set the planet on fire.

By David Behrens

Published 29th Jul 2023, 06:00 GMT

But last weekend something changed. For the first time since the eco revolution of 1989, when the Green Party emerged from nowhere as the third biggest force at the European election, environmental policies were seen to be turning voters away rather than attracting them.

In between had been three and a half decades of ballot box environmentalism by the main parties, cosying up to electors who had “gone green” while trying not to offend the wealthy industrialists on whom they depend for funds.

It was always a difficult balancing act but the plan by London’s Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan, to expand his ultra low-emission zone right across the capital finally broke the tightrope. People may be more environmentally conscious than in the 1980s but they recoiled at having to pay £12.50 a day if their car was more than averagely noxious or a £15 congestion charge to get into the West End. As a result, Mr Khan’s party failed to secure its expected victory at the Uxbridge by-election.

A London bus passes an information sign for the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) in London. Mayor Sadiq Khan intends to extend Ulez to all of London's boroughs. PIC: Lucy North/PA Wire