The Greening of British Government and Politics - Case Study Example

The Greening of British Government and Politics Introduction It is electorally justified for the Labour Party to prioritise the environment. The Labour’s formation of the Department of Energy and Climate Change can be viewed as an effort to express their dedication and determination to address Britain’s environmental challenges and a response to the growing value of environmental concerns over the time of Labour in the government (Rubinstein 2006). After more than a decade in office, the Labour Party boasts several important environmental successes (Worley 2009): for instance, the creation of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), which has provided a large investment in household energy efficiency between 2002 and 2008 and brought in carbon saving; delivering more seaward wind facility than any society in the globe; and implementing the world’s first long-term, legally binding greenhouse emission reduction programme (Carter 2007). Hence, in their environment policy statement in 2009, the Labour Party declared, “Labour is making Britain greener, cleaner and less polluting” (The Labour Party 2010: para 5). However, this activities, campaigns, and achievements of the Labour Party have not been examined in the context of British government and politics comprehensively. This essay will attempt to contribute in this area of knowledge. The primary issue that will be addressed here is the role of the British government and its relationship with the people. These issues have gained a new significance. A decade into the existence of this Labour government, policy-makers seem to be certain that their mission has changed. Gordon Brown, as he reflects on his experience, addressed communities breaking new ground for elected legislators to pursue (Worley 2009). However, in one domain specifically, we oblige our policy-makers to lead rather than follow, and to take risks. That domain is the environment. The media response has been unsurprising. Conservative channels that were quick to criticise David Cameron’s demand for stricter aviation taxes are imploring that the electorate cannot take any more. They are incapable of justifying their standpoint beyond complaining about nursemaid states and fiddling with, or supporting, the assertions of climate-change denouncers (Worley 2009). Newscasters respond even more recklessly, with Channel 4 exposing a feature film that go against all the facts and with the BBC misinterpreting its demand to ‘balance’ by advocating discussion between the two parties, as if they embody corresponding bodies of evidence. Brown has taken advantage of the attack on Cameron (Carter 2007). However whatever the several challenges in his standpoint (opposition in Europe prevents environmental cooperation), whatever his interests or objectives, whatever the viability of his recommendations, Cameron is contributing a lot to the debate (Worley 2009). All the major parties must acknowledge the evident agreement and help steer that debate. Social Democracy and the New Labour’s Environmental Policy The public ideology of New Labour reflects a conventional socialist philosophy. Two of the primary builders of New Labour, Peter Mandelson and Roger Liddle, informs us that the legacy of Blair “is an ethical socialism which draws on the ideas of Tawney and Ruskin” (Mandelson & Liddle 1996: 32). Similarly, the New Labour member of parliament and R.H. Tawney’s biographer, Tony Wright (1997: 9), claims that “ethical socialism... represents our most fertile political tradition”. Blair (1995) himself often refers to the ideologies of ethical socialists, asserting, for instance, that “the ethical basis of socialism is the only one that has stood the test of time” (p. 12). Thus, the socialist tradition in Labour’s environmental policymaking advocates ethical principles such as community, fellowship, and environmental justice. Its proponents usually have faith in reciprocal selflessness as a prerequisite for the greatest possible environmental justice of all (Robinson 1992). The appropriate objective of environmental political action is a just society wherein all citizens achieve environmental freedom through mutual aid. This notion of the person achieving moral environmental character within the society has found expression for numerous socialists in the notion of a common welfare state. Apart from preserving socialist ideologies, the welfare state also represents a public-service provision model that has been supported by various socialist theorists (Rubinstein 2006). Hence, the Labour Party’s environmental policy has represented a collective welfare state distinguished by a bureaucratic type of environmental service provision. The Labour Party’s environmental ideology revises the Old Labour’s model of environmental welfare and the public service provision with regards to problems initially emphasised by the New Right (Labour Party 1996). To begin with, the problem of a surfacing underclass of welfare beneficiaries has encouraged the Labour Party to deviate from the traditional confidence of the party in a collective welfare state. Moreover, the problem of bureaucratic incompetence has compelled the Labour Party to deviate from the traditional belief of the party in a service delivery model (Rubinstein 2006). More particularly, these problems, specifically the latter, are linked to an overburdened state: fluctuating costs and overblown public demands are said to wield unreasonable pressures on the finances and structures of the state (Carter 2007). The Labour Party has dealt with these problems from within the socialist perspective, thus building a vision of the environmental sector that is distinct from the New Right and the Old Labour (Worley 2009). Labour believes that the environmental programme is basically anchored in Labour ideologies. Labour’s energy, climate change and environmental policies are about strengthening communities, generating jobs, securing equality as well as dealing with carbon discharges and advance the quality of life (Carter 2007). Labour believes that by taking action they have to reduce waste and deal with climate change, and consequently set off economic development, and make the country more energy self-sufficient and make it more convenient for citizens to have a greener lifestyle (The Conservative Party 2000). The Welfare State New Labour has revised its conventional beliefs about environmental well-being to advocate a vision of the government as a partner and facilitator. Old Labour presented the government as a paternalistic resource provider for people that offers citizens education, health care, and, if needed, services such as housing (Worley 2009). With Labour’s efforts Britain’s green policies have turned into a catalyst of economic growth. As companies subsidise the insulation of homes, nuclear power and renewable energy, and in innovative technologies such as electric-powered automobiles, thousands of new jobs will be generated by 2015, making millions of the country’s employment in the low carbon and environmental sectors as a whole (Carter 2007). The Low Carbon Industrial Strategy of the Government has established a model for operational industrial strategy, with new companies such as wind turbine makers currently investing in the country (Rubinstein 2006). The problematic idea of the underclass denotes a section of society that supposedly has become too dependent on state benefits, such as those mentioned above. For instance, D.T. Campbell explains a ‘dependency syndrome’ (Rubinstein 2006: 47) wherein welfare dependents become reliant psychologically, economically, and environmentally, on the state’s welfare services. Labour asserts that the New Right’s efforts to remove the state and endorse individualism have weakened mutual and collective values. Labour’s model of environmental reform hence mirrors a specific premise of the moral individual (Carter 2007). Blair (1996) elaborates this premise, in unspoken opposition to the New Right: “People are not separate economic actors competing in the marketplace of life. They are citizens of a community. We are social beings. We develop the moral power of personal responsibility for ourselves and each other... People are not just competitive; they are co-operative too. They are not just interested in the welfare of themselves; they are interested in the well-being of others” (pp. 299-300). Labour’s environmental programme echoes the premise of citizens who are connected by mutual obligations or collective duties collaborating with the state in a joint venture that will guarantee an environmentally healthy country. The state functions as a partner and a facilitator: it gives people chances to develop themselves, yet it is up to the people to capitalise on these opportunities. Whilst the competitive individualism of the New Right encourages individual obligation through competition, Labour Party supports a collective individualism to encourage individual duty through teamwork (Robinson 1992). The previous minister for welfare reform, Frank Field (1997), refers to an ‘age of mutuality’ wherein “self-interest... will also promote the common good” (pp. 78-80). Nevertheless, Labour also characterises a different move within the socialist model, a move that is indebted to the New Right’s emphasis on individual obligation and the underclass. Field (1997) further underlines the essence of “preventing social security from entrenching an underclass” (p. 83) and placing obligation for self-development with the individual. While Old Labour demanded the state to function as a paternalistic provider allocating environmental or energy benefits to passive dependents, Labour demands it to function as a facilitating partner that gives chances for individuals to help themselves (Rubinstein 2006). Labour envisions an environmental sector that, in the expression of Mandelson and Liddle (1996), “guarantee[s] access for all to a decent minimum quality of life and fair life chances, while permitting greater individual freedom of choice” (p. 143). The state must function as a facilitator that motivates people to take care of their environment in order to better their quality of life. Blair (1996) has even argued that “the modern welfare state is not founded on a paternalistic government giving out more benefits but on an enabling government that through work and education helps people to help themselves” (p. 302). A Labour Party paper states “We want to create an active society, not a dependency state” (1996: 2). Labour deems that the biodiversity and splendour of Britain’s green spaces and rural areas improve the people’s quality of life. Throughout its years of service, Labour has operated not merely to conserve the country’s natural environment but to provide access to everyone. Through Labour’s two major Acts, the Marine and Coastal Access Act and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, and the construction of two National Parks in South Downs and New Forest they have allowed a vast number of people to take pleasure of the country’s coastal areas and countryside (The Conservative Party 2000). They have sustained rural industry, witnessed a sustainable development in rural public services and increase in rural employment (The Labour Party 2010). The Labour Party aims to shift the focus from improving personal earnings through benefits to persuading citizens to work. The focus should be on environmental empowerment, with citizens receiving not only salaries, but also the chance, through environmental training, education, and employment, to develop themselves (The Conservative Party 2000). The concept of universalism is thought to be sustained in that opportunity for self-improvement is accessible to everyone. But Mandelson and Liddle (1996) eagerly declare it is also altered in that the provided services are not homogeneous anymore, one person may not necessitate the services needed by another. Under the environmental policy of the Labour Party, the environmental sector should not be narrowed to the safety-set occasionally suggested by the New Right, nor must it stay mainly a cultivator of environmental benefits (Worley 2009). Instead, it must become a facilitator, giving chances for self-development. The obligations of government comprise providing support in environmental work, making environmental task rewarding, and supporting those who want to work in the environmental sector. The obligations of the citizens comprise seeking environmental training or job, being environmentally aware, and renouncing environmental fraud. The obligations of everyone include aiding people in realising their full capability, encouraging environmental independence, and creating an environment-friendly society. Conclusions This essay indicated that Labour Party’s environmental policy represents a public ideology different from those related with the New Right and Old Labour. This ideology emerged in response to particular problems emphasised by the New Right. The problem of the underclass compelled Labour Party to reassess the environmental sector as well as the welfare state in terms of cooperation between involved citizens and facilitating state. The state is thought to furnish the prerequisites for the self-sufficiency of its citizens. The problem of environmental incompetence likewise encourages Labour to reassess public service provision in terms of cooperation between providers and dependents. Responsive and effective environmental programmes or services are believed to encourage greater citizen involvement and greater opportunity thus improving quality of life. Labour envisions an environmental sector rooted in cooperation between the citizens and the welfare state, and between private and public institutions and the individual beneficiaries of environmental initiatives. It looks forward to this cooperation to develop in the perspective of arrangements that are based on mutual aid and trust articulated through environmental duties and rights. Labour Party’s environmental policy envisions a community of stakeholders. It revises ethical socialism’s collective individualism in reaction to the dispute of the New Right. Thereby, it separates from the Old Labour and New Right to cultivate an environmental ideology exemplified by trust, networks, and mutual aid. How this environmental ideology will change the public sector is still debatable. It appears unlikely, though, that the outcomes will be precisely as the state would want. References Blair, T. (1995) Let Us Face the Future, London: Fabian Society. Blair, T. (1996) New Britain: My Vision of a Young Country, London: Fourth Estate. Carter, N. (2007) The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy, London: Cambridge University Press. Field, F. (1997) Reforming Welfare, London: Social Markets Foundation. Labour Party. (1996) Getting Welfare to Work, London: Labour Party. Mandelson, P. & Liddle, R. (1996) The Blair Revolution: Can New Labour Deliver? London: Faber and Faber. Robinson, M. (1992) The Greening of British Party Politics, UK: Manchester University Press. Rubinstein, D. (2006) The Labour Party and British Society,UK: Sussex Academic Press. The Conservative Party. (2000) A Cleaner Greener Britain, Conservative , 1-10. The Labour Party. (2010) Labour Policies : Environment, Climate Change and Energy Policy . Labour Policies Debate , http://www.general-election-2010.co.uk/labour-policies-environment-climate-change-and-energy-policy.html. Worley, M. (2009) The Foundations of the British Labour Party, UK: Ashgate. Wright, A. (1997) Who Wins Dares: New Labour-New Politics, London: Fabian Society. Read More