Boris Johnson sparked fury earlier this week when he refused to apologise for comments making light of Margaret Thatcher’s closure of coal mines and crediting the former prime minister with giving the UK “a big early start” in moving away from fossil fuels. The off-the-cuff remarks were described as “deeply offensive” to mining communities but what did Mr Johnson’s predecessor have to say about climate change?
Margaret Thatcher may not be widely known for her brief pro-environmental period in the late 1980s but the former prime minister did draw international attention to the “insidious danger” posed by climate change. In the late 1980s she used her platform as a world leader to draw attention acid rain, pollution and dramatic changes in weather patterns around the world. During a speech to The Royal Society in September 1988, Mrs Thatcher said: “For generations, we have assumed that the efforts of mankind would leave the fundamental equilibrium of the world’s systems and atmosphere stable. “But it is possible that with all these enormous changes (population, agricultural, use of fossil fuels) concentrated into such a short period of time, we have unwittingly begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself.” To view the full article visit the Independent.