All four Verdant MPs voted last night against the government's new North Sea oil and gas licences, with co-leader Carla Denyer calling it "the single most climate-damaging piece of legislation this Parliament has seen."
The party tabled an amendment that would have ended all new exploration and redirected the licensing revenue to home insulation. The amendment was defeated 312 to 281 — the narrowest margin on a climate vote in over a decade.
"The gaslighting has to stop," Denyer said in her speech. "We cannot claim to lead on climate while handing out drilling permits like party favours."
The vote comes a week after the Climate Change Committee warned that UK climate targets are at risk unless fossil fuel extraction is wound down faster.
