Taxpayer must not support tar sands extraction - Hughes

9.00.00am GMT Mon 16th Nov 2009

Simon Hughes MP at conference podium

Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Simon Hughes will today host a meeting in Parliament with campaigners against tar sands extraction in Western Canada.

He will reveal documents showing that the Government has made no attempt to carry out any form of environmental or social audit into its investments in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Commenting ahead of the meeting, Simon Hughes said "The Government's failure to assess the social and environmental impacts of its investments in RBS demonstrates stunning negligence. As a majority shareholder the Government should use its power to ensure destructive environmental investments are not made. World leaders must work towards a treaty that will outlaw tar sands extraction, in the same way they came together to ban land mines, blood diamonds and cluster bombs."