The two faces of the Tories on climate change

The Conservatives today welcomed Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives and a world-leader in tackling climate change – but some of their other allies, the far-Right climate change-denying Czechs and Poles they sit alongside in the European Parliament – were notorious by their absence.

Quite what Mr Nasheed, the Maldives’ first democratically-elected President, would make of David Cameron’s friend Jaroslaw Kaczynski – who described global warming as “a lie” – or Czech leader Václav Klaus, who called climate change “a myth”, nobody knows. Has he even been made aware of the views of his hosts’ new best friends?

Addressing the Conservative party conference this morning, Mr Nasheed, whose aim is to create the world’s first carbon neutral economy, said:

“If we do not act now, my grandchildren will find their island home will have disappeared. The success or failure of Copenhagen really is a matter of life or death.

“When the price of failure is the loss of a nation, this is the strongest incentive to succeed.”

Though neither Mr Kaczynski nor Mr Klaus were in Manchester, contorversial Polish extremist Michal Kaminski and Roberts Zile, whose Latvian For Fatherland and Freedom party throw street parties to celebrate the Waffen SS, were feted by senior Tories at a fringe meeting.

Yesterday Left Foot Forward revealed the anti-gay record of Conservative MEP Charles Tannock, who falsely told Channel Four News on Tuesday that he had “done a lot of things to help” the gay community.

1. Shamik Das says:

   October 8, 2009 at 12:19 pm

   The two faces of the Tories on climate change: http://bit.ly/fwIta
2. Copenhagen latest: Arrests, anarchists and Arnie | Left Foot Forward says:

   December 15, 2009 at 1:16 pm

   [...] Nasheed, whose innovative ideas and speech to the Conservative Party Conference Left Foot Forward reported in October, gave an impassioned oration and received a standing [...]
3. Devolved Governments - Where they stand on Copenhagen | Left Foot Forward says:

   December 16, 2009 at 10:28 am

   [...] October, President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, held a cabinet meeting underwater to highlight the dangers faced by his country from climate [...]
4. The Week Outside Westminster | Left Foot Forward says:

   December 18, 2009 at 12:22 pm

   [...] of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed, speaking at the Copenhagen Climate Change conference Share | Permalink | Leave a comment [...]