Journal of Biogeography (1991) 18, 363-370 SPECIAL This Common Inheritance: COMMENT Green idealism versus Tory pragmatism I. THE WHITE PAPER: 'THIS COMMON INHERITANCE: BRITAIN'S ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY' 'This Common Inheritance: Britain's Environmental Strategy' (henceforth TCI) is an important document in British politics. It is the first comprehensive inter-departmental review of Britain's environmental policies. It marks the Conservative Party's first real engagement with the agenda of the Green movement. TCI is certainly presented as a major new departure in politics: There are moments in history when apparently disparate forces or issues come together and take shape. Almost half a century ago that was true of arguments about the welfare state. In the last decade, the case for market economics has emerged, coherent and formidable, as a blueprint for prosperity and a guarantee of freedom. Today, it is the environment that captures headlines and excites public concern (TCI, p. 8). TCI explores the possibility of a more caring and less strident form of Conservatism and, although it was prepared under Mrs Thatcher's premiership, it may help define Tory ideology post-Thatcher...