The other day, I awoke in a state of paranoia. May 1st was a morning of fear as I watched Reform sweep the local elections around parts of England. Reform, whose relationship with the truth is in desperate need of counselling, was able to persuade people to vote for their nefarious Ponzi scheme of a party. What made this morning unsurprisingly worse was watching Nigel Farage, the party’s leader, claim those within green careers should start “seeking alternative careers.” A claim in front of the nation that he was taking a stance against fighting the climate crisis.
What Is Going On?!
Reading headline after headline, I questioned what the hell was happening. Was he suggesting that those working to combat the climate crisis needed to be removed? These people, trying to develop something that could help others, were somehow an enemy who needed to be put out of a job. A man who made such emboldened (yet false) claims to stand for the working people was threatening mass firings for absolutely no reason.
And yet, I began to wonder why I was surprised. Combatting the climate crisis has never really been a right-wing talking point. I don’t think people woke up in December of 2019 and decided, “Yes, I’ll vote for keen green thinker, Boris Johnson!”
There was a sinister openness in Reform’s disapproval of green initiatives that seemed different from any other leader. Clearly, the UK government has never really had a great history of environmentalism. From our rise to a global power being based on the consumption and burning of fossil fuels to continued legal battles over Net Zero deadlines, I would never call the UK government a green one. So why was this different?
To contextualise Reform’s approach, I wanted to take a look at the UK’s past relationship with environmental policy. A lot of right-wing ideas can be traced back to Thatcher’s neoliberal view of the world. As such, her environmental policy is perhaps an excellent starting point.
The Right’s Green Ruse
There may be some within the UK who claim Thatcher to be a green Conservative saint amongst polluting villains. Thatcher made speeches describing the UK as the ‘dirty man’ of Europe, claiming the UK needed to protect its waters and land from pollution. This belief did not exactly stop Thatcher from pursuing free-market ideals that did nothing to halt the pollution of the environment from businesses, nor did it stop the purging of North Sea Oil in the 1980s for economic growth. These conflicting messages led Thatcher to be the progenitor of a green ruse, putting up a green front whilst never really doing anything to back it.
Thatcher’s green façade began to dwindle under the Conservative Prime Ministers of my time. Between 2010 and 2024, the UK saw continuous Tory leaders dip in and out of power, like a Rolodex of the worst leaders Britain had to offer. David Cameron was perhaps the greatest successor to Thatcher’s lie, creating an image of green Conservatism that aimed to be “the greenest government ever”, but cut any chance of sustainable energy initiatives.
During the subsequent May and Johnson years, the environment was a whisper amongst the consistent shouting of Brexit. Any Net Zero targets made were inevitably underfunded, overly extended or altogether cut. Following this, the Truss years had little environmental mention, which should come as no surprise, as she lasted as long in government as the time it takes to sneeze. Finally, the Sunak Government scaled back funding for renewables. Instead, they claimed they needed to fight the crisis with a more realistic approach. Those 14 years of Conservative rule were an abject environmental failure. All the while, the cost of living was higher than ever.
Reform’s Approach
Looking at the UK’s environmental past, Reform’s approach is a backlash against the failures of government. The disapproval of climate-related policy results from terrible economic management combined with a failure to justify spending on sustainable initiatives. With Reform, there are no pretences of Net Zero targets, spending on renewables or alternative energy sources. The ruse has been completely dropped.
Almost two decades of environmental failure have set up sustainability as a scapegoat for the dwindling economy of the UK. Faced with consistent headlines of how expensive schemes have been and a skyrocketing cost of living, the UK public has become sceptical of sustainable initiatives. Then, one day, Reform comes along and says, “The environment? We aren’t going to do anything! It’s an expensive waste of time.”
Sacred by your rise in food prices, and you don’t know why? Well, the government is putting money into funding renewable energies, so it must be that, says Nigel Farage. Instead, Reform will implement a tax on renewable energies on the claim that this will help save money on energy bills. Farage also claims this will put money back in the pockets of everyday people, but who does this actually help? Funded by climate deniers and billionaires, Reform will ensure that these polluters will get first dibs on the British energy sector. Meanwhile, any sustainable initiative will dwindle and die.
Reform has spun that anything green is now a waste of time, and anything sustainable is now theft. Reform’s populism has branded the protection of the environment as harming the economic standing of the working class. Instead, it is bourgeois and directly against the working people of the UK; anything sustainable, green or climate-related is therefore anti-UK.
A Long Way Forward
I have been struggling with how to end this on a positive note for a while, and how to end with a message that the UK isn’t all bad. Maybe reference how the Green party gained 43 council seats, totalling 859 seats on 181 councils. Or, perhaps suggest that the Labour party could take a greener turn with their recently announced Western Forest, with plans to plant 20 million new trees. Unlikely as it is, stranger things have happened. As great as these achievements are, I couldn’t seem to find any hope in them all.
When speaking of environmental policy, it is, unfortunately, a lot of doom and gloom. It is unsparingly brutal and unrelentingly frustrating. Every headline concerning the environment, from Trump, Reform or someone similar in Europe, always hits me sideways. I want to shout into the sky and ask, “Why must it be like this?! Why will no one do anything?!”
However, I do not think that frustration should sway us from approaching these matters. My anger at this country comes from a place of utter adoration for its surroundings. Our landscape is a place of joy, our nature is abundant in diversity, and our environment is beautiful. From the rolling hills of the Peak District to the industrial cities of the North, the little hamlets of Suffolk and the coastal towns of Cornwall, this country is a wonder to behold. It is a place worth being frustrated about when under threat, and a country far too wonderful to be brought down by the likes of Nigel Farage and the Reform Party.
Be Curious!
- Stay up to date with those threatening your wildlife by using sites such as Greenpeace.
- Keep up to date with when your local elections are, and make sure you register to vote to keep people like Nigel Farage out of government.
- Use the Activist Resource Hub to help campaign and fight against far-right parties.
Image credit to Markus Spiske via Unsplash.
