At Stockport Council’s Cabinet Meeting on Tuesday evening, and in response to a public question, the Labour cabinet member with responsibility for Climate Change and the Green Agenda admitted that, despite the Council Meeting on 28th March passing a resolution declaring a Climate Emergency and calling for a letter to be sent from the Council Leader to the Prime Minister, no such letter has yet been sent.
The excuses given included the local elections in May, the consequent change in who leads the Labour Group and the future change of Prime Minister.
Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Stockport Council, said “I am astounded that, despite a motion being passed with all-party support, the Labour administration have not seen fit to write to the Prime Minister in a timely fashion. An emergency was declared almost 12 weeks ago, the outgoing Council Leader had almost two more months in office after the motion was passed before he was replaced and the new Leader has officially been in post for almost a month.
“If Labour really were treating this as a Climate Emergency, rather than just paying lip service to it in reaction to public pressure, they would have sent the letter immediately after the Council Meeting in March. This is simply not good enough and a sign that you cannot trust Labour with the environment.”