A pretty comprehensive story in today’s Independent shows how split the Tories are on Copenhagen and climate change policies. The article is refreshing in that it names names, most of whom are the usual right wing suspects. For quite some time Nigel Lawson has been touring the Country pushing his Climate Change denial message and he seems to have drawn some heavyweight Tories with him (if you can call John Redwood, Peter Lilley and Ann Widdicome heavyweight).

David Davis on the other hand in a two column article produces a much more balance view. When you have waded through all the usual rhetoric about the destruction of life as ‘we know it’ if we go completely green, his arguments about doing what we can sensibly do, to reduce energy use and our dependence on oil and gas, strikes a chord with this LibDem.

Where this leaves the 23 Tory councils who have signed up to the 10:10 Climate Change Campaign (to reduce emissions by 10% in 2010) I don’t know. They are already trailing LibDem and Labour councils and this may reflect Tory scepticism at local level as well. As for Zac Goldsmith, poor chap, all he is left with is LibDems plagiarising his greatideas on climate change, and a political career suffering two hammer blows within one week. As Harold Macmillan once said ‘Events dear boy events’.