Politics, Economics and Climate Action
In January the House of Commons Library published an update on the UK economy which noted its recent slow growth and that the government “has repeatedly said that growth is its number one, or defining, mission ”. It went on to describe some of the plans proposed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to achieve growth. These included plans to improve infrastructure; deregulation and simplification of environmental protection rules to remove barriers to growth; and measures intended to boost investment from UK businesses and from abroad (Harari, 2025). In February an online article from Politico reported on the attitude of the Conservative opposition led by Kemi Badenoch to the UK’s net zero target, which was signed into law by former Prime Minister Theresa May in June 2019. While “Badenoch insists she wants to tackle climate change” she and her team “say the target damages the country” and want to abandon it. The Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie is reported to have said that the 2050 t...