0:00
Department Desnes, as it's snappily known, spent over £40,000 on UK flights during Labour's first six months in power
0:08
Well, this means they have spent more than the Conservatives did during the first six months of 2024
0:14
despite Labour urging Brits to fly less while in opposition. Well, let's discuss this now with the director of Net Zero Watch, Andrew Montford
0:23
Andrew, thanks for joining us. I mean, it does seem like pretty blazing hypocrisy
0:29
Absolutely. And this is not the first time that politicians have shown this sort of hypocrisy
0:36
I mean, I think back to Caroline Lucas and her flights to America, that sort of thing
0:43
But, yeah, the politicians and bureaucrats, you know, Whitehall bureaucrats, don't behave the way they would like the rest of us to behave
0:53
You know, they essentially carry on with their fossil fuel burning ways
1:00
And the reality of it is, I think, that that is the only way we can currently work our society
1:07
So, you know, it's just they won't admit that this is the only way of running an economy
1:12
So, yeah, it's hypocrisy. And yet, what are all of these flights for
1:17
I suppose one argument might be that we don have a fully integrated high rail network in the United Kingdom not for want of trying is it sometimes that just there is no other option other than to fly I mean I think that right for me
1:35
I live in Scotland and, you know, I have to travel to London quite often. And, you know, if I want to go on the train, you know
1:41
if I get on the first train down in the morning, I don't arrive in London until lunchtime
1:46
So, you know, that's half the day gone. So, you know, if I get on the first flight, you know
1:51
I'm in London for nine o'clock. So, yeah, that absolutely is the only way of doing it
1:56
The problem with high-speed rail is that it's not really terribly suited to the UK
2:01
We're a highly densely populated country. And, you know, high-speed rail needs to travel in straight lines
2:09
Now, that's just not going to happen. So the reality is that we are stuck with aeroplanes here
2:15
And, you know, the aeroplane service is very, very good in a way that the rail service isn't
2:21
the railways tend to be rather unreliable. You know, there's a lot that can go wrong
2:25
If one train breaks down, you can end up with a tailback behind it
2:29
whereas, you know, the aeroplane's just, there's no barriers. So, you know, again, it's this thing of the climate religion
2:38
if you like, say we've got to do with aeroplanes, but the practical realities are there isn't actually an alternative
2:45
I just wish Ed Miliband would start dealing with reality rather than this fairy tale of net zero
2:52
because that is what is, you know, one, it makes him look a hypocrite, but two, it's dragging the whole economy down
