Responding to the Budget, Ami McCarthy, Head of Politics at Greenpeace UK, said:
“This was the Chancellor’s first big test on climate and nature. While there is still much work to be done, Rachel Reeves has taken a step towards her one-time ambition of being the ‘first green Chancellor’.
“Changing the fiscal rules is a common sense step that will allow us to make the long-overdue investment the country drastically needs. The Chancellor must use the additional funds to go further and faster on green measures that will boost the economy, and tackle the climate and cost of living crises at the same time, like home insulation, public transport, and jobs in industries of the future.
“Progressive tax measures are welcome, but the Chancellor should go much further to tax the super-rich and corporate polluters. Making them pay their fair share would raise hundreds of billions for communities suffering from climate impacts at home and abroad.”
Responding to the freeze on fuel duty, Greenpeace UK’s senior transport campaigner, Paul Morozzo, said:
“The cost of oil is falling, which presented the Chancellor with a perfect opportunity to finally get rid of the freeze on fuel duty. A sensible government approach would be to combine an increase in fuel duty with major investment to improve, expand and reduce the cost of public transport. Unfortunately the Chancellor has used this Budget to maintain the freeze and put up bus fares, which will only hurt those on the lowest incomes.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
- Contact: Greenpeace UK Press Office – press.uk@greenpeace.org or 020 7865 8255
- Greenpeace’s view of what a Budget for national renewal should look like
- Ami’s pronouns are they/them