MICHAEL Gove has accused the Scottish Government's deposit return scheme of being motivated by the "ideology of separatism".
In the Commons yesterday, the Tory Environment Secretary praised the "ambition" of Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham in setting up the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).
The scheme, the first in the UK, will place a return value on items of 20p and will be up and running by the end of the current Parliament in 2021.
It will include aluminium and steel cans as well as drinks containers made of glass and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic.
The aim will be to capture 90% of drinks containers for recycling within three years.
But Gove claimed the DRS threatened to separate the union.
He told the Commons: "While I applaud the ambition of Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish Environment Minister, in taking forward a DRS scheme, it is absolutely vital that we make sure it works UK-wide.
"And what I hope and believe is that the Scottish Government will now put the interests of the United Kingdom ahead of the ideology of separatism which sometimes creeps into some of the things that they come up with."
Yes, Michael Gove actually accused the Scottish Government's announcement about a Deposit Return Scheme of being motivated by the 'ideology of separatism'. pic.twitter.com/swHupUoCNE
— Sarah Mackie (@lumi_1984) May 9, 2019
Nicola Sturgeon declared a "climate emergency" in her speech at the SNP Conference.
The SNP leader told delegates in Edinburgh she was inspired after meeting young climate campaigners who had gone on strike from school.
The DRS is one way in which the Scottish Government is tackling this issue and it has been praised by Zero Waste Scotland.
READ MORE: Details revealed for Scotland's bottle and can deposit return scheme
As Environment Secretary, Gove has called to remove climate change from the curriculum in England, pressed for EU nature protection rules to be slashed and vowed to cut out plastic – while drinking from disposable cup.
Plus the leader of his party said school pupils protesting against climate change increased teachers’ workloads and wasted lesson time.
Meanwhile, a Holyrood Climate Change Bill proposes reducing harmful emissions by 90% by 2050, a change from the previous target of 80%.
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