Miliband continues green crusade

Something of interest has happened at the Labour conference after all. David Miliband has continued his fixation with saving the planet, bizarrely suggesting that "cutting carbon emissions should become the European Union's primary purpose", according to the Financial Times. "He told delegates the EU would appeal to a new generation only if it came to stand for Environmental Union." Presumably this is intended to pass for a joke.

Using its collective power to curb domestic greenhouse gas emissions, negotiate international agreements on global reductions and exclude energy-inefficient products from its market would give the EU a "vision worth fighting for", he said.

Now this really is micro-management of a high order, and he also unveiled a £500m scheme to build renewable energy projects, mainly wind turbines, on public sector land.

We have talked about Mr Miliband's carbon swipe cards before.

It's hard to see that the Lib Dems or Cameron's Greenies would oppose ideas like these, even though Ruth Lea has pointed out that action by the UK will make not a bit of difference to global emissions.

So our politicians will continue to indulge their feelgood hobbies at our expense, and there is no sign of a party making a coherent case against them.