Today, Westminster Labour Councillors have written to local MPs to ask for them to also support the Climate and Ecology Bill, as promised in the recent Ecological Emergency declaration.

Last week, Westminster Labour declared an ecological emergency, expanding upon the climate emergency declared by the council in 2019. Read more here.

Footage shows how passionately Labour Councillors set out the need for this, and the benefits it will bring.

Unfortunately, Conservative Councillors chose to not support the motion, on the same day that Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak showed he does not take the UK’s climate commitments seriously. The Conservative Party Conference has further shown that climate and nature are not important to the current Conservative Party, who would rather spend their time fighting culture wars.

Today, Cllr Adam Hug, Leader of the Council, and Cllr Ryan Jude, Deputy Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Biodiversity, have written to Nickie Aiken MP and Karen Buck MP to ask that they also support the Climate and Ecology Bill, as promised in the council ecological emergency motion. This cross-party Bill is supported by MPs and councils of all colour, and we hope our local Westminster MPs will join them in this.

Cllr Jude, Lancaster Gate ward councillor, has also written to Felicity Buchan MP, as Lancaster Gate ward will shortly be moving to the new constituency of Kensington and Bayswater.

Cllr Jude said:

“Our ecological emergency shows how seriously we take this issue as an administration – as many other councils across the country do. We also acknowledge the limits to our local powers to act on biodiversity, and so while we will do all we can locally, we also require national support. I hope that our three local MPs, Nickie Aiken, Karen Buck and Felicity Buchan, can join us in supporting the Climate and Ecology Bill, and show that climate and nature should always be placed above politics.”

Cllr Hug said:

“I am proud that this Westminster Labour Administration is playing its part in fighting these global crises. Collaboration and partnership is central to our approach – and this is not just with local residents and businesses, but also with our local MPs and the national government. These crises require us all to work together, and we hope our local MPs can help support the Climate and Ecology Bill in its passage through parliament. We will continue to lobby national government on these issues.”