Climate emergency at Holyrood and Westminster

Climate emergency was raised in Westminster and in the Scottish Parliament last week.

Shadow environment secretary, Sue Hayman, declared a “national environment and climate emergency” on Thursday. Speaking in Parliament, she called on the government to join the tens of local councils and thousands of school children who have made a similar declaration, and asked those on the government benches to join her.

Water minister, Therese Coffey, said the government was “already ahead of the game,” citing the 25 Year Environment Plan. Hayman called this answer “a bit of a fudge” and vowed to press on with or without Conservative support. The previous day, Scottish Green MSP, Mark Ruskell, raised a motion on climate emergency for debate in the Scottish Parliament.

Labour’s declaration drew a mixed response on Twitter, from support to ridicule. Some, such as @antonchanning, questioned the mixed messages across the border: “Why did Scottish Labour team up with The Tories, SNP and Liberal Democrats to vote against it in Holyrood? Only @scotgp voted for it.”