Is Boris Johnson turning the Ukraine war into an environmental crusade?

‘Never let a good crisis go to waste.’ Dr Phillip Cunliffe suggests that the Prime Minister has seized the opportunity of the Russian invasion to double down on his ecological commitments in The Telegraph

Dr Philip Cunliffe writes this comment piece in The Telegraph;

‘A number of radical green activists and campaigners have seen an opportunity in the Ukraine war to bend the crisis to their purposes – a crash programme of eco-austerity achieved by reducing fossil-fuel consumption.’  More surprising Cunliffe finds however, that a ‘democratically-elected prime minister ultimately dependent on votes feels confident enough to castigate masses of ordinary citizens as degenerate addicts merely for expecting to consume affordable and plentiful energy…’

‘Writing for The Telegraph, the Prime Minister, while outlining his new energy security strategy,’ writes Cunliffe ‘seized the opportunity of the Ukraine war to double down on his ecological commitments. He tells us that there will be “tough times ahead” but that it’s possible to rid ourselves of our “addiction” to Russian hydrocarbons…’

‘Having stumbled out of the political crisis over Brexit into a lethally mismanaged pandemic, then into a diplomatic crisis that the Government is doing its best to turn into a domestic energy crisis, onlookers are entitled to conclude the British state and its political class are addicted to emergency rule far more than us ordinary citizens are addicted to Russian hydrocarbons.’

Read the full piece here