Lord Mackinlay, a Conservative peer and former deputy leader of Ukip, has warned that the drive for net zero has spread across government like a “persistent mould” and must not be allowed to harm the NHS. Speaking after the government softened net zero procurement requirements on NHS suppliers, he said: “When it comes to our health service, securing the best care at the best price must come before the net zero obsession.”
Health minister defends softer approach
Health minister Baroness Merron told Lord Mackinlay that under original plans, introduced when the Conservatives were in power, all NHS suppliers would have been required to “publish a carbon reduction plan for global emissions”. She said a “much less rigid and more common sense” approach had now been adopted.
The Labour minister said the updated guidance recognises that “where there are limited suppliers of certain goods, equipment, or services, or where those supplies are critical to patient care, it may not be appropriate to apply net zero procurement requirements”. She added that the new rules will operate in “a much more proportionate and less burdensome way”.
Peer calls for further action
Lord Mackinlay, who underwent a quadruple amputation after contracting sepsis, welcomed the change as a “small dose of common sense” but said: “Ministers should go much further. NHS suppliers still face unnecessary net zero red tape, with the health service perversely subject to some of the toughest decarbonisation procurement requirements across government.”
He argued there has “been no fundamental change of direction in the NHS, still fixated on the madness that its flaunting of its green credentials takes precedence over everything else”. He claimed “net zero has spread like a persistent mould to areas you might not have realised”.
Broader net zero debate
The peer, a director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, also criticised the Prime Minister’s approach to energy policy, noting the recent approval of the Jackdaw gas field despite the Labour manifesto commitment to no new North Sea exploration. He said eco-zealotry would lead to a “cold and miserable Britain” with job losses and patient suffering, while countries like India and China continue building coal-fired power stations.
The government was invited to comment on Lord Mackinlay’s remarks.
