MPs returned to Westminster this week ahead of a busy autumn that will see the Conservative Party elect a new leader and the new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, deliver her first budget.
Most new governments are afforded a brief honeymoon period once they take office, however Labour’s already low key celebrations have been truncated first by the summer riots and more recently by accusations of excessive fiscal prudency that is jeopardising the party’s promise of delivering “change” following 14 years of Conservative rule.
Step forward Ed Miliband who was quick to reassert the change narrative this week as he heralded record investment in the UK’s renewable energy infrastructure. The government’s sixth renewables auction secured £1.5bn of support for 131 new green projects including onshore wind, solar and tidal energy, which once delivered will power the equivalent of 11 million British homes and help deliver the UK’s net-zero ambitions. Energy secretary Miliband said the auction was a “significant step forward” in Labour’s target to achieve 100% renewable electricity clean power by 2030.
Before environmentalists could crack open a fresh bottle of English sparkling wine (Champagne is so passé), news broke that the budget for nature-friendly farming in England could be cut by £100m to help fill a Treasury shortfall of £22bn. The Guardian reported that ministers were blaming the cut on the failure of their Conservative predecessors to spend the entire £2.4bn budget for the environmental land management scheme, making it impossible to justify to the Treasury keeping funding at the same level (there’s that fiscal prudence again).
Analysis by the charity RSPB estimated that a £100m reduction in funding would see 239,000 hectares less nature-friendly farmland in England. “Whilst we recognise the financial challenges government faces, investment in nature-friendly farming is critical, not just to meet our legally binding nature and climate targets, but also in order to underpin our national food security and the health of the economy,” Alice Groom, head of sustainable land use policy at the RSPB, told The Guardian.
Lawmakers in Holyrood have also come under scrutiny this week after the Scottish Government published its legislative programme for the next parliamentary year. First Minister John Swinney said the programme would deliver on the government’s four main priorities of eradicating child poverty; growing the economy; tackling the climate emergency; and improving public services. Key environmental policies include a consultation on a charge on single use beverage cups and plans for a new climate change plan to be published once newly established carbon budgets have been set.
UKHospitality gave the programme a lukewarm reception, noting how the possible cup charge continues “to loom over hospitality businesses” along with a new visitor levy and possible restrictions on food and drink promotions. “The Scottish Government needs to put the brakes on planned regulation to allow our businesses to reach their full potential,” said Leon Thompson, executive director of UKHospitality Scotland. “Without action, hospitality’s potential will be curtailed, and we won’t be able to help deliver the economic growth the First Minister wants to see.”
Elsewhere in this week’s Footprint news we report on a plan to allow supermarkets to use their own auditors to assess food hygiene standards; MPs are told to reject free hospitality from businesses that sell unhealthy food and drink; and a think tank calls on the government to put food security at the heart of its industrial strategy.
