SNP MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Ben Macpherson has warned that Scotland’s progress on climate change risks being rolled back by a Tory led Brexit. He said this today as Scotland marks its national Climate Week, which runs from 16- 23 September.
Mr Macpherson has highlighted the opposing approaches of the Scottish and UK governments in the last week, as a Holyrood supported world-leading tidal energy project was unveiled days before the Tories approved Hinkley Point which he thinks is a costly white elephant.
A Climate Change Committee report also showed that Scotland is leading the UK in cutting carbon emissions, despite Tory cuts to renewables damaging the industry.
This has led to the SNP MSP, who previously worked in renewable energy, calling on the Tories to match the Scottish Government’s pledge to maintain vital environmental protection measures required under EU law after Brexit – something that is important in safeguarding communities across Edinburgh Northern and Leith from the effects of climate change.
Commenting, Mr Macpherson said: “The Tory government at Westminster are in serious danger of damaging our efforts to tackle climate change and build a sustainable future for Edinburgh – which is unacceptable and light-years away from our efforts in Scotland, marked by the annual national Climate Week.
“Time and again, the Tories have failed to adapt to the need to develop a more sustainable energy policy that would benefit our local communities in Edinburgh. From the appointment of Andrea Leadsom, who once asked if climate change was real, to the environment portfolio and harrowing cuts to renewable subsidies, to a willingness to spend billions on nuclear power whilst scraping innovative Carbon Capture and Storage schemes, we can see that their priorities lie elsewhere.
“If the increasingly right-wing Tory government had more sense, they would prioritise and strengthen environmental legislation – but given their desire to roll back the decades and cut out the ‘Brussels red-tape’, which provides many vital protections across all areas of public life in Edinburgh, I can’t say I’ll be holding my breath on that.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
