UK Government, Accountability and Administrative Law

Under the prerogative power, the Prime Minister signs the (fictitious) Treaty on Tackling Climate Change 2020. This requires the UK Government to commit to 50% reductions in CO2 emissions, to designate at least 8% of UK land as “pre-served land”, in which trees and other wildlife can thrive, to set out plans for in-creases in recycling and to make solar panels readily available to households. No other member of the Government was consulted prior to the signing of the Treaty. The Prime Minister decided to sign the Treaty because his brother – President of the (fictitious) World Forum on Climate Change – promised that, if the UK Government were to sign the Treaty, he would send as a gift to the UK Government 20 top of the range electric cars. Now that the treaty has been rati-fied, the Prime Minister instructs his Ministers to introduce measures to im-plement the treaty’s requirements, which they subsequently do.

A number of people find their lives and businesses changed as a result of the new rules. These include: (i) Glen, who owns an exotic sports car company. The new rules on CO2 emissions mean that most of his cars will not meet the re-quirements to be on the British roads; (ii) Rhondda, a property developer, who has to abandon her latest building project because it largely falls within a part of the Surrey Hills that the Government has cordoned off as preserved land; and (iii) Bill, who has recently established a new energy company – “Fuel4Cheap” – that promises oil and gas supplies to customers at competitive rates. Plans to make solar panels readily available affect the success of his business. Rather than contemplate individual challenges, Glen, Rhondda and Bill decide to pool their resources and set up the “Brits Against Climate Change Trust”, estab-lished for the specific purpose of bringing a challenge to the Prime Minister’s ratification of the Treaty on Tackling Climate Change 2020. Discuss the issues arising and advise the “Brits Against Climate Change Trust”. 2000 Words OSCOLA referencing Use footnotes Use as many sources as you need Use many cases