Dear Editor
All Governments can be accused of creating problems where none exist, and this far-left Government is no exception. As well as wrecking the economy they are now intent on creating unnecessary interference in people’s homes.
Sadly, when Boris Johnson went bonkers with his green crusade with insane plans to stop the production of internal combustion vehicles and the scrapping of gas boilers, his green Taliban set about looking at wood-burning stoves and in 2021 enacted the Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020. As I pointed out in an article on the Bruges Group blog at the time, this was quite tame legislation as it made little difference to what those who use these stoves were already doing.
However, taking the green initiative to a new and desperate low, this Labour Government is making plans to make the lives of those who retail and use wood-burning stoves a real misery. They have now set up a consultation that suggests fining people who use and sell unapproved stoves, as well as introducing nit-picking bureaucracy and regulations on their use.
To get the result they want, going against all logic, the consultation website opens with details of frightening statistics about air quality and dangerous particles from burning wood on unapproved appliances. This is total nonsense. The threat to air quality from these stoves is so minimal that this engineered panic is laughable.
I should declare an interest as I have experience in such matters after spending almost 30 years working in, and running, our family fireplace business which my late father started in 1946, although I am now retired.
This is yet another left-wing attack on rural areas where wood-burning and solid fuel stoves are needed due to these remote areas having no gas supply. Without these appliances many farmers and others will have no heating or hot water. As many people as possible need to complete the consultation which closes on Thursday this week and show their opposition to any form of regulation and let this pig-headed Government know that they are the problem rather than wood-burning stoves.
The irony is that forests are being felled to enable the Drax power station to burn vast amounts of wood chip to allow so-called green motorists charge up their battery cars!
Derek Bennett
Walsall
Please send submissions to info@conservativewoman.co.uk and put ‘Letter of the day’ in the subject bar.
If you appreciated this article, perhaps you might consider making a donation to The Conservative Woman. Unlike most other websites, we receive no independent funding. Our editors are unpaid and work entirely voluntarily as do the majority of our contributors but there are inevitable costs associated with running a website. We depend on our readers to help us, either with regular or one-off payments. You can donate here. Thank you.
If you have not already signed up to a daily email alert of new articles please do so. It is here and free! Thank you.
