Liberal Democrats in Haringey have welcomed plans that will make Britain a zero carbon country by the middle of the century.The plans will be debated by Liberal Democrats at the party’s conference in Brighton on 17th September. Haringey Liberal Democrats will be going to the conference to back these proposals and raise with Chris Huhne MP, Lib Dem Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, the problems caused by the recent flooding in Tottenham and the impact of climate change on Haringey.

Cllr Bob Hare, Lib Dem environment spokesperson, comments:

“Liberal Democrats have long argued that we have to tackle the problem of pollution and damage to the planet. The proposals put forward by Sir Menzies Campbell that we will debate at conference will mean that by the middle of this century, Britain will be a zero carbon country.

“That will mean that we will be producing overall no extra carbon dioxide, the main polluting gas that is leading to global climate change. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide we are currently producing are almost certainly the cause of the extreme weather conditions we have suffered over the summer.

“The global climate change has a direct impact on our day to day lives, as the residents of Tottenham know first hand after the overflowing of a canal lock this summer caused by monsoon like rainfall, resulting in significant damage.”

Cllr Neil Williams, Lib Dem group leader adds:

“Liberal Democrats have made the environment the main feature of our conference later this month. Going green means changing for the better many of our activities. And it means the Government changing policies as well. Under Labour for example, Gordon Brown has cut the tax burden on pollution, whilst putting up the tax burden on people.

“That means under Gordon Brown it has become cheaper to pollute. I strongly believe that people in Haringey will benefit from the Lib Dems’ green tax switch. At our conference we will debate plans to switch the tax burden from people to pollution.

“We will cut national income tax and scrap council tax. To pay for this, we will increase green taxes on the most polluting activities. For example, we will increase the taxes on the most gas-guzzling cars and on aircraft.”