Meet the new energy minister who believes lower growth is “good news”
Before becoming an MP, Katie White, the new energy minister advocated for GPs to treat “climate grief” and councils to pay for “guided mindfulness works”, reveals Arthur Reynolds
Last week, I brought news of our new Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh’s crusade against cars.
Since then, things have gotten worse. Andy Burnham has made a former professional climate campaigner her number two.
Before becoming an MP and now minister of state in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Katie White chaired the Mindfulness Initiative. That sounds harmless and cuddly, right?
Wrong. White and the Initiative endorsed policies that reveal the anti-growth instincts this government is hiding in plain sight.
In 2020, White argued that “more working from home” and “not cramming on trains and tubes” were a “win-win” as they reduce “our emissions”, are “more pleasurable” and allow for “more leisure time”.
Never mind the young people who are deprived of mentoring, or the cafe owners whose businesses are decimated. As long as the top brass have more time to spend on their Peloton, all is well in the world.
The Initiative makes no attempt to conceal its economic vandalism. A report published when White was chair claimed that “lower GDP growth” would represent “good news”.
Britain’s GDP per capita has grown by an average of less than one per cent a year since 2010. Demanding lower growth is akin to demanding no growth, no rising incomes, no improvements in quality of life. It’s a slap in the face for families who have struggled to make ends meet for decades.
Behind the warm words around mindfulness lies a sneering tone. We read that if growth is lower “individuals would be revealing a preference to consume less”. If it weren’t for pesky capitalism, the proles would be happy with second-hand clothes and Butlin’s holidays.
The vast majority of Brits, myself included, do not want to consume less. We want more holidays, more pleasure in our lives, greater financial security. It’s healthy to aspire to more for your family – it’s how human progress has always been made.
Economically Illiterate
The report is as naive as it is economically illiterate. We are told that lower growth would lead to “a voluntary reduction in average hours worked per person, rather than a spike in unemployment.”
History offers no support for this fantasy: shorter working weeks follow increases in productivity, not economic stagnation.
But of course, as the author reminds us, working fewer hours “would also benefit the environment”. I’m sure the newly jobless would count their lucky stars.
Not content with clobbering the economy, White has also supported a host of new taxpayer-funded green policies.
General practitioners ought to stop reading now. A Mindfulness Initiative report that lists White as a reviewer argues that they “should be trained to recognise the mental health impacts of the climate crisis” and provide “any necessary treatment” for “climate-grief” and “eco-anxiety”.
Our GPs struggle through almost 400m appointments a year. Thank goodness someone has found more conditions for them to treat.
The same report contends that “climate leadership training should be provided to decision-makers at all levels”. Given the perilous state of the public finances, basic accounting training would be a damn sight more useful.
It suggests local authorities should offer “guided mindfulness walks”. I enjoy a walk as much as the next person, but have no desire to follow a council-approved route. Filling the potholes and collecting the bins is already enough of a challenge for them.
The same Katie White who endorsed these economically suicidal policies is now setting the government’s direction on climate change
It would be easy to laugh these ideas off. But when people enter government, their worldviews do not miraculously transform.
The same Katie White who endorsed these economically suicidal policies is now setting the government’s direction on climate change.
If Burnham wants growth in every postcode, he should appoint ministers who believe it is a good thing.