Clause 18
Climate Change Bill [Lords]
6:00 pm
Martin Horwood (Shadow Minister (Environment), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Cheltenham, Liberal Democrat)
I would hesitate to suggest any such thing, not simply because I am afraid of the hon. Gentleman, but because I am afraid of some of my Scottish colleagues. However, on careful reading, I think that we are amending only subsection (1), so I am not sure that the criticism is correct. However, it is an important matter and I take the hon. Gentleman’s point.
Having had those slightly more exciting and interesting options ruled out, we are left with the less exciting amendment No. 35, which opens the debate about what sanctions, if any, will be proposed against those responsible for budget excesses. I hope that the tabling of the amendment starts to stimulate that debate both inside and outside Parliament. I have often drawn an analogy between the challenge and threat that we as a society face now with that faced in war time. In that sense, it is carbon criminals, rather than war criminals, who we seek to hold to account. Given the consequences of failure, it is important that we address this matter and that the Government and the official Opposition give us their perceptions of what sanctions will apply that will really incentivise the meeting of targets in a serious way.