Treasury No2 ready to blast Osborne’s green credentials

CHANCELLOR George Osborne faces heavy criticism from his Liberal Democrat Treasury No2 next month over a failure to back green policies.

Chief Secretary Danny Alexander will accuse the Tories of failing to recognise the contribution environmental measures could make to economic growth.

At the Lib Dem autumn conference in Brighton, he will also lay into “irresponsible” Conservative-led efforts to water down employment rights “with no clear evidence of effectiveness”. A motion on the economy, to be moved by Mr Alexander, expresses concern over “the refusal of the Conservatives to acknowledge that investing in carbon-reducing technologies has the potential to make an important contribution to long-term growth”.

The Chancellor, pictured, dropped his demands for significant cuts to onshore wind subsidies, but at the same time secured agreement
for a big role for
natural gas.