Tories' new-found greenness is "skin-deep and somewhat mottled"

The Greens have scrupulously analysed the Conservatives' green paper number 8 on de-carbonising Britain, which was published in January and which forms the basis of current thinking at the top of the Conservative Party, if not necessarily amongst Tory MPs and councillors.

A communique from the Green Party said: "A few of the Tories' new ideas closely mirror pre-existing Green Party policies - except that despite all experience, the Tories have preserved their somewhat naive faith in the market - while some of their ideas are frankly stupid, like building more nuclear power stations.

"Nuclear power is not and never will be green. It can't deliver CO2 reductions as fast as we need them. It does nothing to help the green recovery we urgently need to tackle the recession. Nuclear sustains far fewer jobs per megawatt than renewables, so it will create too few jobs far too late."

The communique continued:

"But the more closely you examine the Tory green paper, the more flaws and shortcomings appear."

"They wholeheartedly back so-called 'clean coal,' even while they admit the technology isn't yet proven and might not even be economical. But anyway, unlike renewables, carbon capture isn't even zero-carbon, and it can't deliver emissions reductions fast enough, because it doesn't yet work. Also it will create far fewer jobs per megawatt than renewables."

"They want high-speed rail links to replace some internal flights, but they won't end the massive tax-breaks that make flying artificially cheap and attractive to consumers."

"They misunderstand the issue of biofuels."

"They speak warmly of offshore wind energy, but references to onshore wind in their green paper are few and potentially hostile."

"They talk about 'internalising externalities,' the hidden costs including the bill for climate damage, but they haven't even begun to
understand what that means."

Flaws and inconsistencies

A forthcoming Green Party review of Tory policy will say the Conservatives' tenuous grasp of climate change policy and of Green economics has resulted in some blatant inconsistencies in the Conservative approach. For example:

The Tories say: "Our gas dependency is particularly worrying. Gas represents more than a third of our energy mix today, up from 10 per cent in 1970." Yet elsewhere in the same document they congratulate themselves on bringing about the "dash for gas" in the 1990s. So they themselves, through the privatisation and liberalisation of the UK's energy industry, helped bring about the situation they now call "worrying."

The Tories say: "This new dependence on foreign fossil fuels means that the UK is now more exposed to ... major national security risks" (1) Yet they would have the UK rely to a large extent on imported coal, and of course they'll also rely on imported uranium for the nuclear industry, the Green critique will say.

Ken Clarke says that increasing the inheritance tax threshold is "an aspiration", rowing back from previous party committments.

"We´re seeing the same old Tory behaviour once again" said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader. "They announce some sensible policy, like raising the inheritance tax threshold, and see their support jump. More than 11% in the polls that one got them. Then a few months or years later they row back on that promise.

"Now it´s only an aspiration as Ken Clarke told us instead of a firm promise. It´s typical, they tell us what they think we want to hear and then renege as soon as is indecently possible. With this sort of inability to keep their word, how and why could anyone trust them when they talk about the European Union?

"Whether those promises of "in Europe but not run by Europe" are promises that they won´t keep or that they can´t keep is irrelevant: what´s obvious is that they are promises that they won´t keep. Which of course is why so many Conservatives are going to be lending their votes to us in UKIP for we do keep our promises. As indeed we will do with our committment to abolishing inheritance tax altogether."

Farage slams Tories' top tax policy

UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP has attacked Tory policy on income tax for higher earners following the government's decision to impose a top rate of 45% from 2011.

David Cameron has said he won't rescind the 45p rate for those earning over £150,000 and William Hague refuses to rule out raising top taxes, while George Osborne says the higher rate will be difficult to avoid.

"Raising rates is simply giving in to those metropolitan types who envy people who do succeed," Mr Farage said.

"The truth is that the last time the top tax rate was lowered, by Nigel Lawson, the percentage of income tax collected from high earners actually went up.

"You don't get more money by raising tax rates, you get it by lowering them and allowing business, people and entrepreneurs to work hard and flourish.

"This is why UKIP, uniquely amongst the major parties, proposes low and flat taxes.

"If the government's books don't balance there is no point in putting a further brake on the growth of the economy by raising tax rates. Far better to do what we know works, enable people to keep what they earn from their efforts and thus reward those efforts.

"When even the Tories are seemingly ignorant of these well known facts, there's no wonder that voters are increasingly looking to lend their votes to UKIP in the upcoming Euro elections. For we are right about taxes – Cameron, Osborne and Hague are wrong."

Download UKIP's Flat Tax paper