Labour's hollow green credentials

10.35.57am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 27th Sep 2006

It was ironic that on a day that Tony Blair was at pains to emphasise Labour's green credentials to the Labour party conference, his London MEPs were missing a crucial vote on European clean air legislation.

Tony Blair was absolutely right when he said "global warming is the greatest long-term threat to our planet's environment." It's a shame his MEPs weren't where the real action was - translating this kind of rhetoric into policy reality in the European Parliament.

London's Lib Dem MEP Baroness Ludford, who spoke and voted against postponing deadlines for the government and Mayor to clean up London, commented:

"Londoners would much rather see MEPs standing up for their rights to clean air than sitting in Manchester listening to Tony Blair!"