Greenpeace response to the King’s Speech

Responding to the King’s Speech, Greenpeace UK’s head of politics, Rebecca Newsom, said:

“From annual oil and gas licences to giving landlords more powers to kick tenants out of their homes – this King’s Speech just served as a vehicle for Sunak to further his desperate pursuit of short-term political point scoring, at the expense of the public.

“All of the world’s superpowers are investing heavily in green infrastructure, renewables and the clean tech of the future because they know it will generate economic growth, jobs and ultimately help to stop the planet from burning. Instead, our Prime Minister has decided to line up a licencing bonanza for his pals in the oil and gas industry that the government has already admitted won’t lower bills – and won’t deliver energy security either. Together, with his failure to commit to ratify the Global Oceans Treaty, Rishi Sunak’s divisive electioneering is a complete and utter failure of leadership.

“The Prime Minister is taking voters for fools. But it would take a fool to think that a strategy solely aiming to sow doubt, regress on climate and nature, and stir up anger based on falsehoods is going to win votes. Sunak’s about to learn that the hard way.”