A minority government will have to listen to the majority on Brexit and the environment

Publication date: 9th June 2017

Commenting on the outcome of the 2017 election and the formation of a Conservative minority government led by Theresa May, Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said:

“The outcome of this election leaves no room for a divisive and partisan approach to addressing the challenges Britain faces, starting with Brexit. A minority government will have to listen to the majority of UK people and build consensus around the values most of us share. And Theresa May should start by listening to her own voters, the vast majority of whom want our environmental laws to be improved not scrapped.

“Solar and wind power are incredibly popular, yet the government has been dithering over seriously backing both industries. It has overruled local councils to impose unpopular fracking on communities in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Concerns about air pollution have been first ignored, then thrown the sop of a toothless action plan. Big corporations like VW have been allowed to cheat on their polluting emissions with almost total impunity. And our natural environment both on land and at sea has continued to be degraded with more than one in 10 of the UK’s wildlife species threatened with extinction.

“The Conservative manifesto promised global leadership on climate and a healthier environment for the next generation. Since these goals are shared by nearly all other parties, this is something the government can and must deliver on. We’re going to hold the prime minister to her word. This would be a U-turn Britain can neither afford nor forgive.”