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Politicians support 'Greening the UK' campaign

Catherine Deshayes

Political support for the Horticultural Trades Association's (HTA) Greening the UK campaign, which aims to increase the amount of green planting in urban developments, was received last week at a Labour party conference fringe event in Manchester...

‘Can Politicians Save the Planet and get re-elected'- organised by the Fabian Society brought together a high profile panel to look at the compromises that politicians have to make when tackling environmental issues, and whether the political atmosphere in which they have to work has changed for better or worse in the last few years.

The event panel, which was chaired by journalist and broadcaster Lucy Siegel, consisted of Rt Hon Hillary Benn (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP, John Sauven (Executive Director of Greenpeace), Julia Clarke, (IPSOS Mori) and Ruth Davis (Head of Climate Change, RSPB).

Following a lively panel presentation and debate the audience was invited to ask questions of their own.

HTA President Andrew Richardson asked the first question about the importance of increasing green planting in urban areas to help reduce local temperature hotspots and reduce flash flooding - in the light of the HTA research which says that there has been a drop of 50 per cent in the last 10 years. He specifically asked the panel "How can we get local councils to do more on this issue, which we believe would be popular with the electorate?"

Mr Richardson said, "The question provoked a very positive response from the panel. Hillary Benn agreed that more green planting is essential, particularly when tied to issues such as flooding.

"This was backed by Charles Clarke who also supported the campaign and the work it is doing in engaging with local government," added Mr Richardson.

HTA consultant Mark Glover, from Bellenden Public Affairs said, "This event demonstrated that the political will for Greening the UK is with us and it is encouraging to hear that politicians of the stature of Charles Clarke and Hillary Benn lend their support to our campaign."

Source: HTA