Caroline Lucas has expressed anger and frustration that more has not been done to deal with the climate crisis since she was elected more than a decade ago.
In an exclusive interview with The Argus, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion said it was “depressing” and the country has “actually gone backwards” on climate action since 2010.
She also criticised Labour leader Keir Starmer for rowing back on some of its environmental pledges and said that it means “you can’t trust Labour”.
Ms Lucas said: “I think what’s so depressing looking back to 2010 is that in some ways I think we’ve actually gone backwards.
“There were a few years under David Cameron where he had recognised appearing to be green was a vote winner so for a little while he was hugging huskies and for a moment it looked as if things were going to get better.
“Then it turned out to be just so much cynicism and to hear him then talk about cutting the green crap, a direct quote from what he said, and a policy U-turn has led to everyone’s fuel bills being £150 more expensive per household than they would have been.”
Ms Lucas said since David Cameron left office the government’s approach to the climate crisis has worsened, pointing out the current administration has given the green light to new coal mines.
She said: “It is extraordinary. It’s only a few short years that there was the COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow where the UK was showing some leadership and now here we are giving a green light to a new coal mine, to 100 new oil and gas licences in the North Sea and very likely to the Rosebank oil field, the biggest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea.
“If it were to be exploited it would create the same amount of emissions as the 28 lowest-income countries put together.
“And yet it wouldn’t help energy security in the UK in the slightest because 90 per cent of the oil would be for export. It is just the most awful policy.”
Ms Lucas accused the government of “deliberately making it more costly for people to try to heat their homes” through their lack of investment in cheaper renewable energy sources.
She also took aim at Keir Starmer and Labour for the party's approach to the climate crisis and said: “It is maddening to see Labour rolling back on its climate pledges.
“To begin with we were told there was going to be £28 billion a year as soon as Labour took office for green investment and now it’s going to be at some point and we’re not even quite sure if that’s going to be the figure.
“It’s not just on climate that they are rolling back, it’s on everything, including the two-child benefit cap.
“To hear Keir Starmer saying so categorically that they’re going to stick with a policy that Labour’s frontbenchers have themselves called heinous and obscene was utterly shocking and it takes a lot to shock me in politics.”
Looking towards the next election, Ms Lucas said progressive voters would have a real choice when considering who to vote for.
“You do have to ask yourself what is the point of Labour if they’re not going to stand up for some of the poorest in society who are struggling right now?” she said.
“I’m afraid it just means you can’t trust Labour. We cannot trust them to deliver what they say.
“When I look at Brighton Pavilion I think that at the next election this city deserves more than just more Labour lobby fodder. They deserve an MP there to stand up for the people of Brighton and put them first - and that’s a Green MP.
“We know whoever Labour selects here is going to have to follow the party line. They will be whipped and so, therefore, they will go through whichever lobby they are told to do by the whip.
“Brighton needs better than that and Brighton has loved having better than that. I am so proud that my majority has gone up at every election since I was first elected.
“I think that is in response to the fact that people like a powerful independent voice speaking truth to power and speaking up for what we know is the right thing for the people of Brighton.”
Caroline Lucas is stepping down at the next election with Sian Berry hoping to replace her as the next Green MP for the city in Westminster.
Labour has yet to select a candidate to fight for the seat at the next election.
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