Labour rejects claim Huhne may have to abandon climate talks for tuition fees vote

Government says Ed Miliband’s refusal to pair climate change secretary with a Labour MP for key vote could force Chris Huhne to leave climate change summit in Mexico. Labour is refusing to make arrangements to allow the climate change secretary, Chris Huhne, to stay at key United Nations climate change talks in Mexico, claiming such a move is unnecessary.

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, is refusing to pair the minister with one of his own MPs for tomorrow’s vote on tuition fees. Pairing is an arrangement where an MP of one party agrees with an MP of an opposing party not to take part in a particular vote. Such an arrangement would have cancelled out the effect of Huhne’s absence in tomorrow’s crucial vote but Labour said the government need not bring Huhne back.

The shadow minister for energy and climate change, Luciana Berger, pointed out that the Lib Dems had an in-built pairing system in their deployment of politicians abroad with Lib Dem MP Martin Horwood also attending Cancún representing the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and environmental pressure group Globe. Horwood was expected to vote against the measures and his opposition would cancel out Huhne’s support.

The vote is set to see the government’s highest profile rebellion, but it is not thought the coalition will lose and there is puzzlement about why the Lib Dems are been pushing so hard to bring Huhne back, especially with Horwood abroad.

Their high-profile threat to bring Huhne back, floated for much of the 48-hour run-up to tomorrow’s vote, suggests the government is either more concerned than previously thought or that they want to make the opposition leader dilute his own well known commitment to international climate change efforts.

Environmentalists are concerned the political tug of war will have damaging consequences for the negotiations. Huhne is currently leading on the extension of commitments made in the Kyoto protocol. He is said to be battling with Japan, which wants to end developed countries’ commitment to the binding targets.

John Sauven, the executive director of Greenpeace, said the lack of support was all the more striking because of the high-profile campaigning led by Miliband before last year’s climate change talks. He said: “With the coalition struggling to keep the show on the road in London over tuition fees, Ed Miliband should step up to the plate and act in a statesmanlike manner by pairing up a Labour MP with Chris Huhne, the climate change secretary, who is key to the negotiations in Cancún”.

There has been a possibility that Huhne might have to return from Cancún since yesterday afternoon. The Lib Dems asked Miliband’s office to provide a pair but sources accused the Labour leader’s office of deliberately refusing to offer the pair to embarrass the Lib Dems. Lib Dems attempted to pair Huhne with a rebel from within the Lib Dems but failed. “Pairing with one of your own MPs is definitely not a usual practice”, said a source. However, they may not know that Horwood is also out in Cancún. The decision has to be made by midnight UK time when the last direct flight back to Britain leaves Mexico.

Sol Oyuela of Christian Aid told the Daily Telegraph it would be “terrible news” for the talks if the UK was left without a minister.

“The Mexicans specifically invited Chris to help take charge of some of the most vital but difficult elements of these talks. For the UK to recall him now would suggest that the UK has a very disappointing sense of priorities when it comes to solving global problems”, she said.

All the CEOs of the UK’s largest environment and development NGOs have also written to Cameron and Clegg to urge them to allow Huhne to stay in Cancún, and this afternoon the prime minister and deputy prime minister wrote back to them asking them to take the matter up with Ed Miliband.

The move would leave Britain with no senior minister to negotiate in person in complex international negotiations that affect British national interests. It would also undermine the climate talks at the most critical time when deals are made and positions shift quickly.

Huhne is a key player in the high level political segment of the talks, after having been asked personally by the Mexican presidency to consult with countries and talk propose diplomatic options to reconcile opposing nations over an extension to the Kyoto protocol international treaty. (Guardian)

Exercise 5. Make a summary of the news issue below and translate it into Ukrainian.

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