Harriet Baldwin, minister at the Department for International Development, tacitly admitted that the British taxpayer is financing industries abroad which potentiate climate change. The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats asked in the Commons yesterday:
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD)
Does the Secretary of State see the huge contradiction between the vital work that DFID does helping countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change and UK Export Finance continuing to subsidise billions of fossil fuel projects?
Harriett Baldwin
I assure the hon. Lady that, on climate change, we continue to improve access to clean energy for millions of people worldwide. That is an important part of the work that we do within our UK aid budget.
Ms Baldwin thereby implied confirmation of the reports that UK finances coal and gas extraction and hides the fact. UK aid money even goes to two schemes aiming to “export the UK’s expertise in shale gas regulation” to China. One recalls Tory indignation at aid being given to projects in India, a few ranks below us on the table of richest nations at the time. There has been silence from the Conservative benches in the two months since the Independent's report about a hidden subsidy to a nation which will shortly overtake the USA on several economic measures.
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