David Davis

Davis is a staunch Eurosceptic and tends to vote against measures to tackle climate change. In 2005 he lost to David Cameron for the Conservative leadership race. Having taken donations from GWFP funder Michael Hintze, Davis has been known to voice climate sceptic views. Ahead of the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, he was reported saying evidence suggested the earth was cooling, not warming. At the same time, on energy and climate policy he said: "The ferocious determination to impose hair-shirt policies on the public - taxes on holiday flights, or covering our beautiful countryside with wind turbines that look like props from War of the Worlds - would cause a reaction in any democratic country." In 2011, in a Conservative Home column, he wrote: "Of course energy prices are partly dependent on global factors beyond our control. However, much of the economic harm caused by expensive energy is self-inflicted. Britain’s green policies have already increased businesses’ electricity bills by a fifth, and the effect is particularly severe on energy intensive industries – like chemicals, steel and ceramics – which employ over 200,000 in Britain. The average energy intensive business faces extra costs of £20 million by the end of the decade unless climate policies change. This is unsustainable." "If the Government wants to help manufacturers it should scrap Britain’s unilateral commitment to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. There is no point imposing climate targets which send energy prices skywards unless the rest of the world follows suit. The result is predictable; manufacturers will leave these shores, taking jobs and investment with them. The emissions will not be eliminated, but simply relocated. That is why, for reasons both economic and environmental, we should not sacrifice Britain’s economic recovery on the altar of climate change."