Reform UK’s climate rollback is a betrayal of County Durham’s workers

Reform UK councillors, newly elected to run the council, chose to scrap the authority’s 2019 pledge to reach Net Zero by 2045. In its place, they declared what they called a “County Durham Care Emergency” and committed to shifting resources to children’s social care and SEND provision.

Let’s be clear: trade unions do not dispute that our social care system is in crisis. Councils are being driven to the brink by years of underfunding, and care workers – overwhelmingly women – are still paid poverty wages despite doing one of the most demanding, skilled and important jobs in society. The TUC has long called for a publicly funded National Care Service and fair pay and conditions for every care worker. Any genuine action taken to improve care must be welcomed.

But that is not what happened last week. Reform UK did not bring forward a motion solely focused on fixing care. They used the care crisis as political cover to junk climate action – and in doing so, they’ve jeopardised jobs, investment and opportunity in County Durham’s growing green economy.

New figures show that the green economy in County Durham was worth £1.7 billion in 2021/22. Over 600 businesses in the county support more than 11,000 jobs in sectors like wind energy, clean building technologies, low-carbon manufacturing, and sustainable food. Many of these jobs are rooted in our region’s industrial heritage and offer a path forward for communities that were once reliant on carbon-heavy industries.

In fact, County Durham alone accounts for almost a quarter of the North East’s entire low-carbon economic output – higher than its share of regional GDP. This isn’t an abstract moral debate. These are real jobs, in real industries, that rely on long-term commitment to Net Zero and clean energy. When a council tears up those commitments, it sends a dangerous message to businesses, investors and workers alike.

Far from being “virtue signalling”, climate action has saved Durham County Council £13 million in the past year through energy efficiency measures. And these savings, as other councillors rightly pointed out, help protect frontline services – including care.

We don’t have to choose between caring for our children and tackling climate change. In fact, we must do both. It’s our children who will suffer most from the effects of a warming world, and our grandchildren who will live with the consequences of today’s decisions.

Trade unions will always fight for fair funding, for properly valued care work, and for investment in our communities. But we won’t accept false choices that pit one urgent priority against another. And we certainly won’t accept political stunts that risk the jobs and futures of working people in the North East.

First published in the Journal (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), 21 July 2025