Oh Darling, please believe me, we'll never make it alone

Chancellor Alistair Darling announced his plans for getting Britain's budget back on track yesterday. 

And a few minutes later Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Andy Atkins gave our reaction live on Sky from Copenhagen.

The world's eyes are on the climate talks in Copenhagen.

So the Chancellor should have grabbed the opportunity to demonstrate that Britain is prepared to take the lead and build a green economy.

He announced a few green bits and bobs that we were pleased to see.

Like tax breaks for electric cars and cash to help people replace old energy-hungry boilers.

But it was far short of the gear change we need. As Andy said to Sky viewers, "the principle's right but the pounds need to follow".

Meanwhile in Copenhagen, there's a growing sense that rich countries like the UK are ducking their legal and moral responsibilities.

They need to take the lead in cutting emissions first and fast, and provide new money to developing countries so they can grow cleanly and adapt to the damage already caused by climate change.

Oh Darling, you blew a great chance yesterday.

Where the Government was timid in London yesterday, it has to be bold in Copenhagen. It's only fair for the planet and the billions of people living on it.

And we'll make sure that message keeps coming through loud and clear in the media throughout the talks.

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