Tories abandon Green Taxes

12.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 30th Sep 2007

Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne has rowed back from environmental policies that have enraged the right as the Tories geared up for their annual conference. The shadow chancellor said that proposals to tax supermarket car parks and to give air passengers a "green miles" allowance, under which they would be taxed if they took more than one short-haul flight a year, would now be abandoned. The green plans were drawn up by a policy commission under John Gummer and Zac Goldsmith, but have proved controversial among more traditional Tories. The Conservatives have been accused of retreating into a right-wing comfort zone.