One of Boris Johnson’s predecessors has called on the government to be more interventionist to drive a green recovery after the coronavirus crisis.
The prime minister has said he wants a new ‘green industrial revolution’ to generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
But David Cameron has urged Mr Johnson to be “muscular” in reshaping the economy.
Mr Cameron, who as prime minister was famous for pursuing ‘austerity’ policies as he steered the UK’s attempt to recover from the 2008 financial crisis, made his comments in an interview with the Guardian.
He said there was “every opportunity for this recovery to be a green recovery.”
But he added: “The government has got a strong framework for green energy policy and in green investment, much of which we put in place, but it needs to combine that with active assistance and helping with key green investments that can make a difference.”
He suggested an example of what he meant could be seen in his government’s encouragement of the German company Siemens to build a wind turbine factory in Hull.
Mr Cameron said: “That is a transformational investment, that only happened because we really helped to make it happen. We cleared all the obstacles out of the way, we helped in lots of different ways. And I think there’ll be lots of opportunities like that (for Mr Johnson).”
He added: “My advice would be, from what I learnt, is that as well as the framework [of climate and economic policy], you have to roll up your sleeves and be quite muscular in your interventionism.”
The idea would not be incompatible with Mr Johnson’s political beliefs, he argued.
“[Being] Conservative is not intervening everywhere all the time but being quite selective. That’s what Margaret Thatcher was with the motor industry, getting Toyota and Nissan and Honda to come to Britain,” he said.
In November Mr Johnson set out his 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution in the UK.
In the interview, Mr Cameron also reiterated his concerns about the government’s decision to cut the overseas aid budget, from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent for a limited period.
Mr Cameron described the move as “a big mistake” ahead of Cop26 climate change conference hosted by the UK later this year and the UK’s G7 presidency.
“It’s both a tragedy and a mistake … particularly as Britain is making its way in the post-Brexit world and wants to prove that it is a global power and can still punch above its weight, and has important elements of soft power. Our aid budget was an absolutely key element [of soft power],” he said.
But he refused to criticise the government for its controversial decision to green light a new coal mine in Cumbria.
“I need to look at this more,” he said. “When I was prime minister, we really moved decisively away from coal for power. We still have an iron and steel industry that imports coking coal.”
But he added: “I try to limit my criticism of the government to one at any one time.”
