The Conservatives could steal a march on Labour on green policy

The government and opposition are locked into a competition to outdo each other in promising a zero-carbon future, writes John Rentoul

Boris Johnson had something of a green record as mayor of London (AFP)

The Labour Party made a small green splash yesterday by demanding the end of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 instead of 2035, which is Boris Johnson’s plan. It looked as if Matthew Pennycook, the shadow climate change minister, was winning the green battle – environmental politics currently being fought by the competitive setting of deadlines.  

The reality is more complicated. It was only a year ago, at Labour’s annual conference, that delegates voted for a plan that “works towards a path to net zero-carbon emissions by 2030”. Not just the transport sector but the whole economy to be zero carbon by 2030 – although the promise was only to “work towards” a “path to” it.  

At the same time, the conference also voted for a motion proposed by the GMB union, many of whose members work in energy, that refused to put a date on net zero. So Labour’s manifesto for last year’s election was a fudge. It promised to “put the UK on track for a net-zero-carbon energy system within the 2030s”.