If The Green Book is a showcase of thinking within the Liberal Democrats, there is little to suggest a stop to their downward spiral.
The book is an interesting exposition of why we need to move to a greener, low-carbon economy, and how we can get there. As well as looking at developing a compelling narrative around the environment that will reach out to more than ‘deep greens’, the book runs through almost every environmental concern under the sun – from stimulating investment in green technologies to using our green space more effectively and safeguarding biodiversity. In each case, it provides a strong political context for the issue along with sometimes detailed policy proposals. In fact, these are the types of policy Labour’s own SERA has been advocating for some time and many of the ideas bear a strong resemblance to those being discussed in Labour’s policy review.
And that is where The Green Book’s fatal flaw, and exciting opportunity, lies. Its flaw is that it has been produced by the Liberal Democrats – and I do not mean that comment in a childish way. The subtext running throughout the book is that the planet would be saved if only we had a Liberal Democrat government. From the argument made for feed-in tariffs to accelerate growth in UK renewables to the need to increase low-carbon vehicle uptake, the book’s authors talk as though the coalition government never happened. They even go as far as to claim that, ‘The hero of the [environmental] story will be the party, or more likely, Nick Clegg’ and go on to demonise George Osborne, describing him as ‘a risk’ and ‘hostile’ to the environment.
At the same time, if The Green Book is more than the Liberal Democrats’ ‘hug a husky’ moment, then this disaffection with the Tories and newfound shared ground with Labour on these issues, could provide an opportunity. There are ideas that we might not want to support – the suggestion that annual car tax be replaced on new cars with a registration fee equivalent to 15 times current vehicle excise duty, or forcing householders to take on extra loans by making the Green Deal an ‘opt-out’ scheme. But the common ground is considerable.
Taking these ideas through parliament would, of course, put their ministerial positions and shiny government cars at risk, but if the environment is such a big issue for the Liberal Democrats, and, indeed if they want any hope of keeping power beyond the next general election, why not just get on and do it?
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Melanie Smallman is national secretary of SERA, Labour’s environment campaign
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The Green Book: New Directions for Liberals in Government
Duncan Brack, Paul Burall, Neil Stockley and Mike Tuffrey (eds)
BiteBack Publishing | 288pp | £12.99