Parents protest over Aylesbury Vale MP voting down climate change proposals

Parents in Buckinghamshire have taken to the streets to protest their MP’s inaction over tackling climate change.

Activists from Parents for Future (PFF) Herts and Bucks criticised Greg Smith, the Conservative MP for Buckingham for not supporting legislation to curb the effects of global warming.

They claimed the Tory MP had voted against action numerous times since 2020 as they stood outside his constituency office in Winslow at the weekend.

One activist Rachelle said: “It was interesting to hear the thoughts of other constituents and the things that were of concern to them in relation to the climate crisis.

“We highlighted the fact that our MP, Greg Smith, has voted against taking climate action 10 times since 2020, and supported Rosebank oil field, jeopardising our children’s futures.”

Located off Shetland, Rosebank is the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield, which the government gave permission to develop in September.

Examples of Smith’s climate change record include his June 2021 vote against a bill to make supporting reducing the UK’s net targeted greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 the initial core mission of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency.

Other parents gathered in Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead at the weekend as part of the action by PFF, a parents-led climate group.

Raeeka, from PFF Herts and Bucks, said: “By exposing their climate and environmental voting records we can hold our elected officials accountable for their actions and ensure we are represented by someone who will give these issues the proper consideration they deserve.”

Smith told the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This Conservative Government was the first in the world to legislate for Net Zero by 2050, but we will reach that target in a way that is measured, reasonable and that people can actually afford.

“Both in the transition to 2050 – and in fact beyond – we will still need oil and it is far better to use our own resources than be dependent on importing foreign oil, with the additional carbon footprint of transporting it to the UK.

“I understand that some wish to take really extreme measures, but those would only leave us all poorer and colder and that cannot be allowed to happen.”