Why I am no longer a Conservative Party donor

Billionaire businessman John Caudwell believes none of the main political parties understand the scale of the threat – and the opportunity – climate change represents, and says the future of the planet is on the ballot at this election

I was once a Conservative Party donor. Not now.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. We’ve heard the scientists and we’ve seen the data. We know that 2023 was the warmest year on record – and that this alarming trend is continuing this year, with the hottest January, February, March and April ever recorded. This is not a blip. We have temperature records for 174 years, and the ten warmest years have all occurred during the last decade.

It’s a cause I care about deeply. We have a moral duty to humanity and to future generations to take care of the planet and to help it flourish while we are its custodians. But it is also imperative that we seize the economic opportunity offered by the transition to net zero. We can create meaningful jobs, prepare our infrastructure for the economy of the future, and kick start our lethargic economy through this transition.

Now, the main UK parties tell us they understand the severity of this threat.

Last year, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said the Conservative Party had a ‘new approach to tackling one of the biggest long-term challenges we face: climate change’. Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves gave a lecture in which she said: ‘there can be no durable plan for economic stability and no sustainable plan for economic growth, that is not also a serious plan for net zero’.

This all sounds good. But where is the substance behind these words? 

I have been increasingly unimpressed by the Conservative Party on this matter: from David Cameron’s ‘cutting the green crap’ to Rishi Sunak watering down climate policies. Running through Conservative Party thinking is a misguided idea that net zero is a burden. This could not be more wrong. Without a clear green plan, we are at risk of missing out on the booming economic growth of the green economy, and will be left behind as the EU, the US, and China race ahead. 

Labour had pledged £28bn a year in green capital investment until 2030. This would have been an admirable step in the right direction, but ahead of the General Election, Keir Starmer has cut that pledge in half to less than £15bn. 

This lack of vision is stalling Britain’s clean energy transition, leaving Britain off course in meeting its climate targets and uncompetitive in the global race for green technology, infrastructure, skills and talent.

Smaller parties may say the right things, but they don’t face the same scrutiny and so don’t need to be as detailed in their proposals. 

The Liberal Democrats have announced a vague plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045, but they have not set out clearly how they would achieve this or how much investment would be required. The Green Party have pledged nearly £40bn a year for the next decade for deep retrofitting and phasing out fossil fuels – but it’s not clear how much money their proposed carbon tax would raise. 

And I believe Reform UK have got their facts totally muddled when they claim that net zero is damaging our livelihoods, the economy, and is costing tens of thousands of jobs.

I have commissioned a research project at the Westminster-based think tank, the Council on Geostrategy to better understand the challenges that scientists and innovators in the UK face. The Report for this project, Caudwell Strong Britain, will be launched on Tuesday. It has found that the government’s lack of coherent vision, lack of targeted investment, and unattractive environment for skills and talent are at the heart of the UK’s inability to seize the benefits of net zero. 

Political parties of all colours need to get serious about climate change. The electorate is watching; they know the future of our planet and our prosperity depend on it.

John Caudwell is an entrepreneur and founder of Phones 4 U