Tony Abbott ousted Malcolm Turnball as leader of the opposition Liberals after he tried to foist an emissions trading scheme on the party which would have cost billions in new taxes. Straight away Abbott has defeated Rudd’s Labour government on a crucial pre-Copenhagen vote. Abbott rightly claims he has “delivered a big win for the people of Australia who have been saved from a massive new tax that would have been foisted upon them without proper scrutiny”.

The Cameroons are very out of touch with the Tory grassroots on this issue. There is widespread contempt for Zac Goldsmith and there is an abiding suspicion that the whole Vote Blue, Go Green agenda is a cover for tax hikes. Whereas most Conservatives support measures for a cleaner environment, recycling, even organic farming and such like, the whole Copenhagen carbon taxing and subsidising policy agenda is seen as absolute hogwash.

The Tories have dropped back at the polls following the Lisbon Treaty shambles which dismayed eurosceptic supporters.  The majority of activists and supporters do not want to see their cars being used as cash cows for taxation and they don’t want their annual summer holidays to be ever-more regressively taxed. New green taxes are extremely unpopular with the grassroots and supporters.   Dave needs to remember that not all Tories are as rich as Zac Goldsmith…