Bristol Greens demand Secretary of State retracts comments to stop ‘spread of misinformation’

• Bristol Green Policy Chair writes to Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs, demanding he retract factually incorrect comments
• The letter follows Green Group Leader Cllr Emma Edward demanding Bristol Labour stop “misleading the public” over plans to improve recycling in the city.

Cllr Martin Fodor, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Policy Committee on Bristol City Council, has today written to the Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs, Stephen Reed MP to demand he retracts factually incorrect comments made on Good Morning Britain.

Cllr Fodor’s letter expresses disappointment that disinformation spread by Bristol Labour “has reached the level of Government”.

The letter follows Green Group Leader Cllr Emma Edwards writing to the Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Tom Renhard, to demand an “urgent clarification” over his “misleading” statements about the Council’s consultation on improving recycling and waste collections.

Cllr Fodor said, “As the minister will be aware, his government’s ‘Resources and Waste Strategy’ aims for at least 65% of waste to be recycled by 2035.

“He will also know that his Government is planning to introduce a carbon tax on waste disposals, putting a significant financial burden on already-struggling local authorities across the country.

“What he may not be aware of is that Bristol’s recycling rate decreased over the tenure of the previous Labour administration, and that Greens will be working hard to reverse this.

“He may also be unaware that his Labour colleagues running other local authorities such as North Somerset and South Gloucestershire have recently made changes to their waste collection schedules and even consulted upon four weekly collections themselves.”

“We ask him to confirm that none of his Labour led cities are considering reducing waste collections, and whether or not he can promise they will not do this in the next couple of years?

“If the minister has suggestions on how to reach his 65% recycling target without reducing waste collection frequency, Bristol City Council looks forward to hearing them.

“I ask the minister to retract his comments, and we look forward to working with Labour at a national level to improve our waste and recycling services.”