Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Sainsbury and Waitrose Secretly Lobbying against Curbs on Air Pollution
Not strictly local. but very relevant to work being carried out by Harringay Living Streets.
The Following in The Indy today:
Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose are members of a group that lobbies against clean air measures while trumpeting their green credentials, an investigation has found.
The supermarket giants are “powerful” affiliates of Logistics UK, which has lobbied against clean air zones in UK cities and lists one of its policy achievements last year as delaying six clean air zones “for as long as possible”, according to Desmog, an environmental investigations website.
They are among 20 members that form a well-organised opposition to many of the UK’s clean air measures, including driver groups and car manufacturers, it’s claimed.
The investigation also found dozens of links between the umbrella groups and MPs of all parties.
An internal document produced by Logistics UK – formerly the Freight Transport Association (FTA) – outlines its 2019 policy achievements, including: “Due to FTA lobbying, six city clean air zones (CAZs) or air quality schemes, including London's ultra low emission zone (Ulez), have had their start dates delayed for as long as possible.”
The document then lists delays to or watering-down of clean air schemes in Southampton, Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Derby, Cardiff and Oxford. In the latter case, it says: “Following calls from FTA, revised plans for Oxford city council's proposed zero-emission zone show the hours of operation will be changed from 24/7 to between 10am and 6pm instead.”
For the full article, see the Indy or read via Apple News.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Marian Leatherby on
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Thanks for spotting this Hugh
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Permalink Reply by Will on
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If their membership of this group is publicly disclosed, aren't they just 'lobbying' rather than 'secretly lobbying'?
And upon reading the article, they don't seem to be lobbying. They are members of the largest logistics association in the country, which lobbies for a huge array of businesses. Sometimes against (local) government proposals.
It doesn't preclude them from continuing their green initiatives as individual companies.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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To be clear, 'Lobbying' is the Indy’s choice of word, not mine. It accurately describes what the group is doing. The original headlines is “Sainsbury, Asda and Waitrose are members of group lobbying against air pollution crackdown”.
As to whether what the supermarkets are doing can be fairly described as secret, I believe it can. They choose to lobby under the cover of the group but never openly under their brand names. It’s quite clear that they’re hiding what they’re doing.
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Probably easier to just post the article, in which their quite reasonable responses are reported. I don't want to be doing unpaid PR work for these evil giants.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sainsbury-asda-wait...
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I posted the link to the article that I had. I also quoted an excerpt because I recognise that not everyone will have an Apple News subscription.
What you might see as "quite reasonable responses", I read as evasive corporate bluster.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are one of a number of members of Logistics UK. However, our fleet is compliant with Clean Air Zones. Sainsbury’s is committed to becoming net zero across our operations by 2040, aligned to the highest ambitions of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. We will invest £1bn over 20 years to help us achieve that ambition.”
A spokesperson for John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, said: “Being part of any membership organisation means it’s inevitable at times you will have differing opinions. We have had discussions with Logistics UK on our own commitments to clean air and experience, which we believe can provide good insight on what can be achieved.
“All our 600 heavy-goods vehicles will be switched to low-carbon biomethane by 2028 and we aim to stop using fossil fuels across our entire transport fleet by 2030. We therefore aim to be net zero-carbon by 2045.”
When approached for comment, both supermarkets had an opportunity to roundly condemn the lobbying undertaken in their name. Neither did so. We are left to conclude that either they support the action, and won't admit it, or that they consider the matter insufficiently important to break rank.
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They're not doing it openly, neither are they opposing it. They're professing one stance publicly and supporting a contrary one very quietly indeed. I don't think secretly is an unfair description.
And, to your second point, precisely: the more their actions (or inactions) are made public, the more likely they are to publicly withdraw support for the lobbying undertaken by the organisation of which they are members. None of the supermarkets appear to have done that so far.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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They pay for this. We should all agree to give a portion of our income to a group that can represent our interests to the government. I wonder what we might call it?
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Like a union? Are you responsible for all of the activities of any union you belong to?
Interesting to see that Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust and TFL are also members, and therefore complicit in this secret skulduggery.
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Union? No, it would have to have a monopoly... more like... a Parliament? Sorry it was a bit over your head ;)
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Thank you, Hugh. I absolutely agree with you on this. In view of the article extract, the Indy has fairly called the supermarkets out about clean air. To give them credit, they may be able to answer but let's hear it. Clean air is a highly desirable, indeed necessary, objective which deserves all our support.
Sandy
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