Labour’s hypocrisy on the environment was today revealed by Liberal Democrat research showing that Jim Murphy has doubled the number of ministerial cars used by the Scotland Office, despite Scottish Labour’s call today for action to reduce the emissions of government cars.
Alistair Carmichael MP: Shadow Secretary of State for ScotlandMeanwhile, Scottish Labour’s energy spokesperson Lewis MacDonald is completely at odds with Labour’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband over coal power:
o On Monday 15 March, Lewis MacDonald said: “If Scotland is going to make a significant contribution to cutting carbon emissions, it makes no sense to start by building a coal-fired power station […] If this goes ahead it will set back Scotland’s prospects of meeting our commitment on climate change”
o This is entirely at odds with Ed Miliband’s claim that “In order to ensure that we maintain a diverse energy mix, we need new coal-fired power stations”
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary, Alistair Carmichael said:
“This shows the gulf between what Labour promise and what they actually do.
“It is hard to see how Labour can call for greener ministerial limos while Jim Murphy has doubled the number of cars he uses at the Scotland Office.
“Labour are also hopelessly split on energy, criticising coal power in Scotland while in Westminster they back new, dirty power stations.
“13 years of failure have shown that whatever Labour say during the election, they cannot be trusted to back it up with real action in Government.”
Notes:
1. The most recent figures available on Scotland Office ministerial cars are for 2008-09. They show that, since 2007-08, the number of cars used by the department has increased from one to two, while the amount spent on them has risen from £66,000 to £103,000.
2007-08 figures: http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/c...
2008-09 figures: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090716/wmst...
2. Ed Miliband’s comments on new coal power can be found here: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn050/pn050.aspx