Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, commenting on Amber Rudd’s speech said:

“In the run up to the Paris climate change conference this year, it is unbelievable for the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to say that she ‘can understand the suspicion of those who see climate action as some sort of cover for anti-growth, anti-capitalist, proto-socialism.’

"Amber Rudd needs to urgently clarify what she means. The Climate Change Act was passed with cross party support in 2008, and statements like this undermine that crucial consensus.

"This rounds off a week in which the Government have put jobs and investment at risk in clean energy and energy efficiency. David Cameron’s claim that this is the greenest Government ever is increasingly laughable.”