back to article MPs call for climate change minister

A parliamentary committee has recommended that the government appoint a minister specifically to deal with climate change, after its review of government policy revealed that departments are not coordinating properly to deal with the issue. The Environmental Audit Committee said there had been a "decade of failure" to tackle …

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  1. Ted Treen
    Stop

    Never mintd the bollocks.......

    We have a Minister for Health....

    The NHS is on its knees...

    We have a Minister for Defence

    Admittedly, he's only part-time, but our armed forces are in chaos...

    We have a Minister for Transport...

    Look at our Roads & Railways...

    So what will this newly-appointed failed Scottish Barrister achieve?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wonder ...

    ... if this guy will have a chauffeur driven car?

  3. Chris Miller

    @Ted

    I entirely share your sentiments, but members of the Scottish bar are known as 'advocates' (though no doubt there are Scottish members of the English bar - I think I'd better stop now ...)

    </pedant>

  4. anarchic-teapot

    @Ted Treen

    There's no such thing as a Scottish barrister.

    (they're called advocates)

    Dunno who the drone was that wrote the committee report, but if anyone wants to leak his whereabouts to the Plain English Campaign they'd be doing everyone a favour.

  5. Ted Treen
    Stop

    @Pedantry

    Thanks for your corrections, Chris and Teapot:

    I have very rarely heard the term "advocate" without the term "Devil" being in extreme juxtaposition.

    Can't be a coincidence, surely?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My first thought was akin to Ted's

    In essence, as things are now if a politician is concerned about climate change he talks about it in parliament. Throw in a climate change minister and suddenly the first course of action is to raise the issue with the minister, then to talk about it in parliament and be referred to a report due out from the minister real soon now and then wait until his principles finally get tired.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Excellent idea

    Then we'll have another minister with a shiny new logo and equally shiny spindoctor ready to run up their expense account.

    Between working for various Russian gas companies, the new Minister for Hot Air will be able to engage in high-season fact-finding trips to exotic foreign beach resorts (alongside the foreign secretary), sign European treaties promoting low-carbon langoustine (alongside the European minister), hold multimedia summits in some of England's finest golf resorts (alongside the environment secretary) and host charity save the planet jetsetting concerts (alongside Ant and Dec).

  8. John A Blackley

    Watch out!

    A new minister will surely need a new department and the new department will surely need to create new rules, directives, laws, etc. to justify its existence. Ah, more Jobs For The Boys (of whatever sex) and more burden for the taxpaying donkeys of the UK.

    Oh, I'm all for it really. After all, if it keeps a few more incompetents off the job market then I'm happy for them. But, before we go ahead and bring in the Catalan architect to design the new Ministry building, could I request that the government do just a few teensy other things first? Like immigration laws that are in the interests of British citizens, police forces that actually police, schools that actually teach, transport infrastructure that actually transports efficiently and, let's see, what else? Oh yeah, that one! Could we please ask our expenses-gorged MP's to get their noses out of the trough for just a week or two? Just to try it, y'know?

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