Tom Wilson

What are the key environmental challenges that lie ahead, such as nature restoration, biodiversity loss, river pollution, active travel, climate change resilience, energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, sustainable agricultural methods, net zero targets, competing land uses (growing food, generating energy and protecting nature), public transport and funding mitigation and adaption – both in your constituency and more widely across the country?

I am delighted that Labour’s plans for the environment, eco-system, rural affairs and agriculture is one of, if not the most, substantial section of our programme for government, with ambitious policies on GB Energy, a publicly-owned clean energy company, achieving Net Zero, and laying a strong economic foundation to go even further if we achieve office. 

The core principle of the manifesto is to under-promise, and over-deliver. Everything in the manifesto is the starting point of a very ambitious programme to turn our country around, and our commitment to our environment is centre stage.

The climate and nature crisis is the greatest long-term global challenge that we face. The clean energy transition represents a huge opportunity to generate growth, tackle the cost-of-living crisis and make Britain energy independent once again. That is why clean energy by 2030 is Labour’s second mission.

We have tremendous untapped advantages in this country. Our coastline, high winds, shallow waters, universities, and skilled offshore workforce combined with our extensive technological and engineering capabilities. With a serious industrial strategy and a genuine partnership between the public and private sectors, it is our intention to turn Britain into a clean energy superpower. By leading on green technology that can be exported abroad, we can both generate the growth we need to fund better protections for our environment at home, while helping other countries become greener abroad.Labour will take decisive action to seize this economic opportunity. We will shape markets, and use public investment to crowd in private funding. At the heart of our approach will be our Green Prosperity Plan where, in partnership with business through our National Wealth Fund, we will invest in green industries.We will end the chaotic Conservative chopping and changing on policy, harness clean power to boost our energy security, and invest in home insulation upgrades. We will save families hundreds of pounds on their bills, not just in the short term, but for good.We will provide leadership at home so we can influence others to ensure every country plays their part in meeting our collective obligations to future generations.

At home we have a nature emergency, including the unforgivable pollution of our rivers and seas like the Swale, Ure, and coast around Redcar, Saltburn, and down the coast to Whitby and beyond. We will improve access to nature, promote biodiversity, and protect our landscapes and wildlife.

Given the immediacy of the threat to our environment, we will close the loopholes in windfall taxes on the oil and gas giants and extend the sunset clause in the Energy Profits Levy until the end of the next parliament. This money will go into the creation of GB Energy, and green, national energy company that will work with industry to deliver clean power, invest in leading green technologies, support capital-intensive projects, and deploy local energy production to benefit our rural communities.

And among the most urgent issues in our area is the state of our rivers. Sewage dumping in the Swale is out of control. It is an environmental crisis, an ecological crisis, and a health crisis all rolled into one. It must stop.

Labour will put failing water companies under special measures to clean up our water. We will give regulators new powers to block the payment of bonuses to executives who pollute our waterways and bring criminal charges against persistent law breakers. We will impose automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing and ensure independent monitoring of every outlet.

As growth returns to the economy and we have more money to spend, as your local MP I would campaign to ensure our regulators get the support they need to do their jobs and that the laws we have already are properly enforced.

As an MP, I believe the real skill in politics is not to be an expert on everything, but to identify the key issues, to earn the trust of and surround yourself with competent workers and experts in their field, to learn, to make alliances, and then cut through the noise and propose workable solutions that can be enacted and make a difference. I am committed to the principles of public service that have been absent from our politics for too long. 

I will not make commitments I cannot guarantee I can deliver. Just as much as government without core principles can become untethered, core principles alone cannot deliver for people in this country without a workable plan to protect our environment. 

Labour for the first time in our history is competitive in North Yorkshire. We won here once already in May, and we can win here again. I am standing to provide a real, credible choice for voters in Richmond and Northallerton, and truly believe that by voting Labour, you can send a message to Westminster that nobody will be able to ignore.