- Lord Goldsmith’s resignation exposes Rishi Sunak’s apathy towards the environment
- Government’s abandonment of animal welfare and domestic environmental issues
- Criticism of the UK government’s broken promises on climate and environmental spending
In his resignation letter, the Conservative peer criticized Rishi Sunak for being “simply uninterested” in the environment.
After resigning, Conservative Party Minister Zac Goldsmith denounced Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s “apathy” for the environment.
Mr. Sunak said the Conservative peer left without apologising for impeding a Boris Johnson parliamentary committee investigation.
But Lord Goldsmith criticized No 10’s “misleading” statements and insisted he was “happy to apologize” for his criticism of the privileges committee’s investigation, which found that Mr. Johnson had misled MPs about COVID lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street.
The close supporter of Mr. Johnson who appointed Mr. Sunak to the House of Lords resigned from his environmental job. Stating that Mr. Sunak was “simply uninterested” in the issue.
The previous day, the privileges committee reprimanded the ex-MP Tory peer for tweeting about its conclusion that the former prime minister had lied to parliament about the parties.
According to a letter disclosed by Downing Street, Mr. Sunak asked him to apologize to the committee, but he refused.
Mr. Sunak wrote to the peer, “We believed that your remarks about the privileges committee were incompatible with your position as a minister of the crown. You have chosen to pursue a different path.”
The prime minister then stated that he was “proud of the record of this government and Zac in particular for ensuring that we combat climate change and safeguard our natural environment.”
Lord Goldsmith later stated that he was “happy to apologize for sharing my views publicly.”
He added, “Number 10 asked me to clarify this and assured me I would not be fired. I was and remain pleased to do so.”
In his resignation post on social media, Lord Goldsmith referred to their investigation as a “kangaroo court” and “witch hunt”. However, Mr. Sunak’s spokesman insisted that the Prime Minister still had confidence in the minister.
Lord Goldsmith quit 24 hours after the comments were exposed in a devastating resignation letter to Number 10.
The Tory Lord called his stint in the job “exhilarating,” praising the UK’s climate change leadership, notably under Mr. Johnson.
Lord Goldsmith stated that he was “horrified” by the government’s “abandonment” of animal welfare policies and that its efforts on domestic environmental issues had “simply ground to a halt.”
In his resignation letter, he wrote, “More worrisome, the United Kingdom has visibly retreated from the international stage and withdrawn its leadership on climate and the environment.”
Lord Goldsmith stated that the government had “effectively abandoned” its “solemn” pledge to spend £11.6bn of its aid budget on climate and environmental causes – calling it “the single most important signal” to countries suffering and in persuading other G7 countries to act – and had “not come clean on the broken promise” as the final year of spending will be after the next general election.
“Government climate indifference”
“Having accomplished so much in the past, I have struggled to maintain the status quo in recent months,” he wrote.
“The issue is not that the government is hostile to the environment. Rather, the problem is that you, our prime minister, are simply uninterested. This signal, or lack thereof, has caused a sort of paralysis throughout Whitehall.”
The peer stated that it had been a “privilege” to hold his position. But that “this government’s indifference to our biggest crisis makes my job impossible.” So he was resigning “with great reluctance… to focus my energy where it can be more useful.”
The United Kingdom continues to perform a vital role.
In response, the prime minister stated, “The UK’s net-zero energy leadership is admirable.” We are exceeding the efforts of other nations by delivering demonstrable progress and reducing energy costs. Our environmental improvement strategy states that our administration is committed to improving the environment.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, who was also named in Thursday’s report for her “vociferous attacks” on the privileges committee, responded to Lord Goldsmith’s resignation on Twitter by praising his “record of achievement,” “depth of knowledge,” and “passion.”
She continued, “We lost the best environment minister any government could have.” This loss transcends partisanship. It is vast.”
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary for Labour, stated, Zac Goldsmith has revealed the truth about Rishi Sunak’s government’s abject failure and indifference to the climate and nature crisis.
“It’s no wonder ministers are resigning from the government because they’re so ‘horrified’ by Rishi Sunak’s approach.”
The Liberal Democrats stated that Mr. Sunak “should have had the guts” to fire Lord Goldsmith following the report’s condemnation of his actions, which stated that the Prime Minister was “clearly too weak to control his party.”
