Reducing the cost of living should be the Tories’ priority

Hm. I’m not sure about Cameron’s ‘green’ speech today. Not because I have anything hugely against the green agenda per se. But I am concerned about how the current Government’s environmental taxes have trickled downwards and hit the public hard in the pocket. Of course, Cameron says that he is too. Although this passage, in particular, could create the opposite impression:

“I understand that right now the cost of living is the number one concern for Britain’s families. And I understand, with that backdrop, why people might think fighting climate change seems a costly diversion. But those who say we’ve got to choose either the environment or the economy, who say, ‘look, we can’t tackle climate change. Going green will cost too much when the cost of living is already too high. Tough emissions targets will damage our industry and business…’ they’ve got it exactly wrong.

The truth is: it’s not that we can’t afford to go green – it’s that we can’t afford not to go green. When oil is moving towards $140 a barrel, when families are being hit hard every time they pay their gas bill, fill up their cars or do the weekly shop, are you telling me we shouldn’t – we can’t – go green? We’ve got to.

The era of cheap oil is well and truly over. So whether we need to cut our carbon or not – which we do. Whether you believe in climate change or not – which you should. For the sake of our future prosperity and our current cost of living, we must wean ourselves off our dependence on fossil fuels and go green.”

The problem? It’s too forgiving of Brown’s parasitic tax regime. Perhaps the prime reason why families are “being hit hard” when they fill up their cars is because taxes account for around 66p of each £1.10 litre of petrol. To me, that doesn’t suggest people will be most helped by being weaned off fossil fuels – at least not in the short term. Instead, they’ll be most helped by significant reductions in fuel duty. But that’s an option the Tories don’t seem to be offering.

Maybe they should hire Fern Britton as a speechwriter…