Interesting Guardian/ICM poll today. Not the stuff about Labour hitting a 19 year low with the Lib Dems up; encouraging though that is I know better than to get excited by such things (although it is delicious irony seeing this just a couple of days after Blair harrangued his critics as being out of touch with the public). No, I was more interested in how the parties fared on the environment: Lib Dems 29%, Tories 22% and Labour 17%.
From memory I think Labour have tended to do better than the Tories in this area, so that is of course not good news for them. But it is encouraging that the Tories have so far to go before stealing our clothes on this issue. The onus of course is now on us to stop them from having a chance.
It does point towards an encouraging set of local election results, and an exciting by-election result on Thursday.
The Lib Dems claim the environment is a big part of their manifesto, so 29% looks a bit limp to me.
A job for the Cowley Street Research Department (or whatever it is called).
Compile a list of oil companies, industrial polluters, property developers and construction companies who contribute to Tory Party funds.
When that job is done, put the information in an intelligible form, and disseminate it as widely as possible.
Then ask about the beef.
Oh, and before I forget. We have been here before. Recall Mrs Thatcher in 1989? Claiming the “green agenda” for the Tories? Or was that one dropped so fast that no-one can now remember it?