Theresa May criticises Tory policy on net zero, judges and human rights

Baroness Theresa May has warned the Conservatives against using “populism” for “short-term political ends” in a wide-ranging criticism of her party’s current policies.

In a speech to peers on Monday evening, the former prime minister took issue with her party’s approach to net zero, the judiciary and human rights as she urged the Tories to show “leadership” instead.

Baroness May, whose government committed the UK to reaching net zero by 2050, said she had been “disappointed” by the Conservatives’ pledge to repeal the Climate Change Act.

She said it was an “extreme and unnecessary measure” and warned it would “fatally undermine” Britain’s global leadership on climate issues, as well as investment and jobs generated by the transition to net zero.

She went on: “This announcement only reinforces climate policy as a dividing line in our politics, rather than being the unifying issue it once was.

“And, for the Conservative Party, it risks chasing votes from Reform at the expense of the wider electorate.”

Reform UK has also committed to scrap net zero policies, while Baroness May argued polling showed the public was still broadly supportive of eliminating carbon emissions.

Turning to the “villainisation of the judiciary”, she said judges had “too often come under attack from those peddling populist narratives” and argued politicians should not “question the integrity of our justices” or accuse them of “political bias”.

She added: “By undermining the judiciary we further erode public trust in the institutions of our democracy and therefore in democracy itself.

“So I say to those seeking to villainise a judiciary that cannot easily answer back, who wilfully discredit our legal system for their own expediency – it’s time to show responsible leadership.”

Although she did not mention Robert Jenrick by name, her remarks come less than a month after the shadow justice secretary told the Conservative party conference he had identified a group of “activist judges” in immigration courts.

That conference also saw Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch commit to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, in part to make it easier to deport people from the UK.

While Baroness May said she knew it was “frustrating” to “come up against the courts” as a minister, and had seen examples of “judicial over-reach”, she warned her party to “tread carefully”.

She said: “This is not just about short-term decisions to make it easier to deal with public concerns about immigration.

“Our support for human rights has its origin in Magna Carta. How we deal with issues of human rights is fundamental to our ability to deal with autocracies and dictatorships.

“Every step we take to reduce our support for human rights merely emboldens our rivals and weakens our position in the world.”

Baroness May’s comments came as she delivered a Lord Speaker’s Lecture, part of a regular series run since 2010.

She devoted her lecture to warning about the rising tide of populism in both the UK and the West.

She pointed to increasing polarisation, declining trust in politicians and polling that suggested a third of young people would back “an authoritarian system led by a decisive figure, even if it meant sacrificing democratic freedoms”.

In the face of populism, she said mainstream parties should “demonstrate leadership” and show that democracy can work.

Concluding her speech, she said: “In the world of power where the club of strong men want to carve the world up in their own interests, populism and polarisation are enablers.

“And those politicians in the Western world who use populism and polarisation for their own short-term political ends risk handing a victory to our enemies.

“We must not risk walking into that trap.”