Hello all, from MP Watch Witney,

It’s been a deplorably long time since our last newsletter. Much has happened to our

small team to excuse this, but we offer our apologies, nonetheless. We are still, or

perhaps I mean back, in business!

Our Spring Climate Matters Meeting (Image above)

Our quarterly Climate Matters meetings continue. Charlie Maynard talks to us about

climate or environment related trends and events from Westminster and we ask him to

discuss climate related issues we have. Herewith a report on April’s meeting.

At a Climate Matters meeting in April 2025, we challenged Charlie, and the Lib Dem

party, on honesty in politics. The spread of disinformation by some thoroughly

unscrupulous, but very important, politicians is existentially dangerous in relation to

climate change and public perception of it. Honesty in politics is thus fundamental to

our cause and should be an absolute, formal requirement. “That’ll never happen!” we

hear you shout, but there are suddenly good grounds for optimism.

This time last year, the Welsh Senedd was writing legislation to outlaw lying in politics –

to make it illegal. This is now voted onto their statute books and will be implemented

by their 2030 election. The Welsh have done the spadework, in other words, and the

Westminster Parliament now has before them a workable, legal template. This is,

surely, roughly half the battle!

The other half may be what is known as the Hillsborough Law (the Public Office

(Accountability) Bill). This was debated in the House in the last parliament but then

suspended for further discussion. [In fact this Bill survived to be in the King’s speech, so

will be considered in the new parliament.] If passed into law, it would make it illegal for

a ‘public official’ to mislead us – to lie to us. When it was debated in the last

parliament, a Labour MP, Luke Myers, proposed an amendment to include

parliamentarians under ‘public officials’ so that it would then also require politicians

not to deliberately mislead. If this amendment, or one like it, is revived, and succeeds,

it may be that we will, before too long, have national law requiring politicians to speak

the truth. We cannot properly address climate change unless they do that, so this is

very remarkable and profoundly important.

Charlie was able to assure us that he would support this legislation and the

amendment, and it was now, he assured us, Lib Dem policy to do the same. This is an

important advance, so watch this space!

Phoebe introduced, and then showed us on screen, the final talk, given by Tessa Kahn,

at the National Emergency Briefing in Westminster last November. It was on the urgent

need, economic and otherwise, to transition from fossil fuels to renewables, (All the

talks are available on www.nebriefing.org.) She pointed out the acute economic

dangers of reliance on fossil fuels. In particular the instability of supply and price

characteristic of that industry, and the inherent economic desirability of renewable

energies, especially wind and solar. They would add value and reduce costs, but

importantly also deliver energy stability. (Around half of the recessions since the 1970s

were caused by fossil fuel energy supply and cost shocks, she said.) She concluded that:

“None of this is impossible and the rewards on the other side are enormous.” (Tessa

has also given an excellent TED talk on this subject.)

Charlie discussed all of this with us, agreeing that it could be done but also that

Westminster politics may still not step up to this plate with sufficient urgency or vigour.

He gave us his view, as he has before, that Ed Miliband has been doing extremely good

work in his department but that it is an uphill battle and although our government is

responding better than many it is still responding inadequately. There are Labour MPs

and even cabinet level voices opposed to the net zero agenda.

Charlie was asked about the potential laying of a railway connection from Witney to

Oxford via Eynsham (and eventually extending to Carterton). This was very much under

positive, continuing discussion, he told us. A potential route has been identified, as

have station sites, and the project looks increasingly feasible, both practically and

economically. A rapid, reliable public transport system between Witney and Oxford

would be an essential mainstay of development and support for the many new

dwellings we are committed to providing. Charlie’s opinion was that the railway would

probably be built one day, perhaps within a decade. This would make life much simpler

and easier for residents and would vastly reduce congestion on the A40 and thus

emissions from traffic.

On Thames Water, Charlie referred us to the upcoming Kings speech. He was not

hopeful that the radical action necessary to reduce the preposterous debt burden the

company carried would be forthcoming, and the battle to do this would have to

continue into the next parliament.

Charlie was asked from the floor about his experience of being an MP. He replied that it

had been, on the whole, a positive experience. Most MPs, he said, seemed to be in

politics for good, public-spirited reasons and were prepared to cooperate across party

lines in pursuit of sound ideas. Personally friendly, cross-party conversation was

possible and common.