Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has said the UK should stop worrying about extreme heat and simply enjoy the sunshine, a position Larry Elliott describes as dangerous nonsense that will wreck both finances and the planet.
Tice's comments come after a summer of record temperatures in the UK. Elliott argues that Tice would not have made such remarks if he had been addressing people in Stourbridge whose homes burned down, farmers with parched crops, or firefighters exhausted from battling wildfires.
The Trade-Off Between Climate and Economy
Tice's underlying assumption is that there is a trade-off between tackling the climate emergency and raising or maintaining living standards, and that the latter should take priority for now. Elliott says the government has been acting as if it believes this, with Andy Burnham focusing on reducing prices for consumers, including by cutting VAT on electricity bills.
The prime minister took a long time to use the words “climate change” to explain this summer’s heatwaves, doing so only after the devastating fires in Stourbridge and when prodded by a letter from green groups.
Public Concern and Economic Impact
Elliott notes that opinions are changing across the political spectrum. According to Conservative peer David Willetts, 86% of Britons see climate breakdown as at least partly responsible for the recent heatwaves, and even 63% of net zero opponents make that connection. More than a third of Reform UK voters said tackling climate breakdown should be more of a priority in a recent poll.
Meanwhile, a report by German insurance company Allianz shows that extreme heat poses structural challenges to many rich countries. As temperatures rise above 30C, workers struggle to do their jobs and their productivity suffers. For the most exposed countries, the hit to economic activity could knock a cumulative 5-7% off GDP over a five-year period.
The Need for Investment
Elliott argues that failure to invest in basic infrastructure needs to be remedied fast. People facing hosepipe bans have the right to ask why Britain has not built a reservoir in 30 years. The electricity grid was designed for fossil fuels rather than renewables, and many green projects are held up by a lack of capacity. The UK’s housing stock is woefully inefficient, and household bills would be lower if existing homes were retrofitted with insulation.
Elliott concludes that the benefits of the net zero transition, including cheaper running costs for electric vehicles and lower energy bills from heat pumps, outweigh the costs. He asks which is the greater threat: Russia, bogged down in Ukraine, or the climate crisis? The answer, he says, should be obvious.
