Fair Trade

The Glorious Successor's environmental policy has belched forth further glorious success with the Government's handling of the European carbon trading scheme. Thanks no doubt to extensive lobbying by such environmentally responsible corporations as Ford, Vauxhall and good old Thames Water, the Department of Environmental Fudgery, Recalcitrance and Attrition has allocated vast excesses of carbon permits to multinational firms. Those permits which are not needed can be sold on, which will presumably mean considerable atmospheric improvement in boardrooms across the significant universe. New New Labour priorities are also admirably reflected in the fact that a few companies, such as the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, have been given fewer permits than they require and will have to buy extra ones from car manufacturers and Heathrow Airport. The electricity supply industry has also been allocated fewer permits than it needs, but the Government has shown its concern for pensioners and hard-working families by advising the industry to make its customers pay the cost of buying more.