The Scottish nationalists are no stranger to hypocrisy, as their latest U-turn shows. For on Thursday afternoon the Yousaf regime — the only government in the UK which boasts Green politicians — announced that it was, er, ditching its flagship green commitments. Yes, that’s right, amid a litany of stories about SNP sleaze, the government confirmed it was throwing in the towel on its its 2030 carbon target. At least they’re consistent in their inconsistency…
The ironically-named ‘wellbeing economy’ minister Màiri McAllan told Holyrood on Thursday that the Scottish government is abandoning its goal to cut carbon emissions by 75 per cent — but promised it will ‘pave the way for continued action’ on cutting carbon emissions. We’ll believe that when we see it…
SNP politicians are huffing and puffing that Scotland’s 2045 net zero target remains five years ahead of the UK goal, so what’s all the fuss about? Well, Mr S remembers that it wasn’t all that long ago that the Scottish government and SNP politicians across the country were lambasting the Prime Minister for his climate change U-turn – when Rishi Sunak pushed back the deadlines for the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars and gas boilers – last September. Here are five examples of statements made by those holier-than-thou politicians that have aged rather badly…
Humza Yousaf
First up is hypocrite-in-chief Humza Yousaf. The First Minister expressed his horror at Sunak’s turnaround on green policies, blasting the UK government move as ‘unforgivable’. Hapless Humza called for ‘climate action and ambition’ which now looks rather rich. In fact, the unelected First Minister went so far as to say that ‘the UK government is on the wrong side of history’. Erm, well, you’ve just joined them…
Stephen Flynn
In his typically direct fashion, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn was quick to pen a note to Sunak on hearing of his backtrack in September. There is a ‘global race to a net-zero future’, Flynn warned the PM: ‘You’ve just thrown in the towel.’ Will hapless Humza be receiving a similarly fierce letter? Don’t count on it…
Màiri McAllan
Secretary for wellbeing economy, net zero and energy Màiri McAllan got on her high horse to complain that the Prime Minister’s decision would hamper Scotland’s ambitions. Slamming Sunak’s about turn, McAllan fumed that the PM’s statement was ‘an unforgivable betrayal of current and future generations’. Today, it was McAllan herself announcing the Scottish government would be abandoning its 2030 carbon target. How does it feel to eat your words, Màiri?
Shona Robison
Deputy First Minister Shona Robison has found herself at odds with the Conservative party on a number of occasions, most recently at the SNP’s National Council event in Perth where she joined Yousaf in calling for a ‘Tory-free Scotland’. But there are some areas where she agrees with her opponents – on the ditching of climate targets, for example. Last September Robison accused the Prime Minister of ‘misleading the public’ on the climate threat after his u-turn. This month, the Scottish Tories have accused the net zero and energy minister of ‘leading Scots astray with her false promises’. Snap!
Patrick Harvie
The co-leader of the Scottish Greens must be the first Green politician to simultaneously a) make it into government and b) let that government kill its climate pledges. Great going, Patrick! Of course, the junior minister may now be feeling rather embarrassed about the whole thing – given he branded Sunak’s climate policy changes as ‘profoundly worrying’, accusing the Tories of taking advantage of ‘outright climate denial’. How does that square with his own government’s stance now? As Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar pointed out today at First Minister’s Questions, Scotland ‘must have the only party in the world that supports scrapping a climate change target’. Quite the legacy…
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