IIn 2023, it was reported that the then leader of the opposition Keir Starmer interrupted a shadow cabinet presentation by Ed Miliband to declare “I hate tree huggers”. Starmer’s spokespeople denied that the incident ever took place, and the mini-scandal quickly blew over (not before enraging some members of the Just Stop Oil-adjacent left).
But whatever the truth of the matter, the episode illustrated a tension over practical focus and rhetorical framing. Is the green transition, the move to net zero, to be billed as a project to restore the natural environment, to conserve the flora and fauna of a planet withering under the weight of man-made industry? Or is it a catalyst for creating millions of high-skilled, productive, green jobs of the future, for regional industrial renaissance and green tech, for public infrastructure upgrades and an investment-led effort towards national renewal via net zero?
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