Tory peer Zac Goldsmith has told BBC HARDtalk he would be “very tempted” to back the Labour Party at the next election if they showed “a real commitment” to “protect[ing] the natural world” as part of their green agenda. While he still has “concerns” about Labour, Goldsmith laid out the conditions upon which he’d back Sir Keir anyway:
“The simple truth is there is no pathway to net zero and there’s no solution to climate change that does not involve nature, massive efforts to protect and restore the natural world.
“And at the moment, I’m not hearing any of that from the Labour Party if I do, if there’s a real commitment now the kind of commitment, frankly, that we saw when Boris Johnson was the leader, then I’d be very tempted to throw my weight behind that party and support them in any way I could.”
Goldsmith quit as Rishi’s climate Minister just two months ago, penning a scathing resignation letter which accused Rishi of being “simply uninterested” in green politics. Rishi claimed he’d actually demanded an apology out of Goldsmith for his attacks on the Kangaroo Court, and Goldsmith stood down when he refused. Either way, it looks like the rift between the pair hasn’t closed much since…