The Environment: A Winner for the Liberal Democrats?

While the Liberal Democrats have a long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and have over the years developed a range of policies acclaimed by the green NGOs, there remain doubts about the depth of that commitment. In particular, the party's local government environmental record is not notably better than its rivals. With the Conservatives and others now heavily promoting their green credentials, the Liberal Democrats face the dilemma of either being outflanked on the green reputation front or having to adopt much tougher policies that some in the party believe will lose votes. The author argues that one course of action would be to seek cross-party support for achieving agreed environmental targets supported by a menu of tough policies to be introduced if those targets are missed.