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Critiquing the GJT Using Conservative Political Ideas

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Work, Politics and the Green Industrial Revolution
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Abstract

In this chapter, I introduce conservative political ideas as a theoretical lens by which to view and critique the Green Jobs Taskforce (GJT), drawing on Barbara Goodwin’s work on conservative political ideas and ideology. I then critically discuss the fate of the UK conservative political leaders involved before the GJT, during the GJT and afterwards, including the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The NZW is a non-charitable arm of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). I include few NZW or GWPF works herein, as the GWPF is under investigation by the UK Charity Commission. Here, the GWPF is alleged to have breached charity guidelines and not acted for the public benefit by accepting donations from pro-fossil fuel oil and gas companies (see Bychawski, 2022), https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/watchdog-urged-to-strip-global-warming-policy-foundation-of-charitable-status/.

  2. 2.

    Indeed, the UK government published a report on how to ‘nudge’ the British public to go green (see Londakova et al. 2021).

  3. 3.

    The former UK Energy Minister Chris Skidmore signed net zero by 2050 into British law to become a legally binding target in June 2019 (Lofting, 2023, p. 15), while the ban of sale on combustion engine cars by 2030 was introduced in 2020 by Boris Johnson and the first Ulez for inner London was devised by Johnson too (Wright, 2023, p. 21).

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Renwick, D.W.S. (2024). Critiquing the GJT Using Conservative Political Ideas. In: Work, Politics and the Green Industrial Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53067-8_5

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