Miliband accuses Sunak of being “shamed” into attending COP27

Ed Miliband has accused Rishi Sunak of being “shamed” into attending COP27 by a “torrent of disbelief” after the Prime Minister U-turned on his plan not to attend the climate summit next week.

Sunak confirmed in a tweet this morning that he will be attending COP27. No 10 had previously said the Prime Minister was not expected to attend “due to other pressing domestic commitments”.

Reacting to Sunak’s announcement, the Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary said: “The Prime Minister has been shamed into going to COP27 by the torrent of disbelief that he would fail to turn up. Rishi Sunak is going to avoid embarrassment, not to provide leadership.

“His initial instinct tells us all about him: he just doesn’t get it when it comes to the energy bills and climate crisis. Yet again we see a Prime Minister who only makes decisions for reasons of political management not the national interest.

“If the Prime Minister was really serious he would commit to Labour’s plans for a zero-carbon power system by 2030, a national wealth fund to invest in green jobs and GB Energy – a publicly-owned energy generation company to create jobs and wealth in Britain.”

Downing Street announced last week that Sunak was not expected to attend the summit as a result of  “pressing domestic commitments”. But the Prime Minister’s spokesperson said on Monday his attendance was “under review”.

Miliband argued that Sunak’s “dithering” over whether to attend showed that the Prime Minister “cannot provide the leadership our country needs”.

Keir Starmer last week urged Sunak to attend the annual climate summit, telling Sky News: “The Prime Minister should be going to COP. He needs to show leadership.”

“If that doesn’t happen, it’s a failure of a leadership. If I was Prime Minister, I would be going. I would be convening and pulling people together and sorting out the issues that are confronting people,” the Labour leader added.

Sunak said today: “There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change. There is no energy security without investing in renewables. That is why I will attend [COP27] next week: to deliver on Glasgow’s legacy of building a secure and sustainable future.”

Commenting on Sunak’s U-turn, Starmer said: “Caving in to criticism is not leadership. Real leadership is seizing your seat at the table. For UK jobs. For clean energy. For our environment. Rishi Sunak acts in the name of political management. Labour acts in the national interest.”

Sunak faced criticism from within his party over his plan not to attend the conference. President of last year’s summit Alok Sharma said he was “pretty disappointed” that the Prime Minister had said he was not planning to attend.

“I understand that he’s got a huge in-tray of domestic issues that he has to deal with. But I would say that going to COP27 would allow for engagement with other world leaders. And I think it does send a signal – if the Prime Minister was to go – about our renewed commitment on this issue,” he added.

COP27 – the United Nations’ annual climate summit – will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt between November 6th and 18th. The UK hosted the previous conference in Glasgow last year.