Two councillors in west London have faced criticism over comments perceived as climate change denial, coming amid a drought in the capital.
Councillor Darshan Nagi, the Conservative councillor for Hounslow East, wrote in a Facebook comment that climate change is a “natural process.” He added: “It started from ice age and haz been happening since upto now and it will carry on NOTHING WILL STOP IT.”
“ALL THESE ORGANISATIONS WHO ARE HYPING UP CLIMATE CHANGE AND TAKING MONEY IN DIFFERENT TAXES AND [CHARGES] AND PAYING THEMSELVES HIGH WAGEZ AND GIVING FUNDING TO MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES TO PREVENT [CLIMATE] CHANGE. I WOULD CALM THEM………….”
Context and responses
Cllr Nagi’s comment was made below a post on Brentford Today reporting on the Leader of Hounslow Reform, Cllr Tony Brown, reposting tweets which say “climate emergency is a big hoax.”
Cllr Jack Emsley, Leader of the Hounslow Conservative Group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS] that this is not the view of the wider group, nor was it policy.
In a written statement, Cllr Nagi said that his comment was clumsy, and rejects the assertion that he said climate change is not real.
He said: “The comment on Facebook doesn’t represent the view of the party or the Conservative Group. I was trying to convey that climate change is a big process that won’t be stopped by one country alone pursuing net zero.
“I appreciate my comment was quite clumsy, but at no point have I said climate change isn’t real – rather, the current policies that the government claims are supposed to tackle climate change are in fact about raising revenue as opposed to mitigating the impact of our changing climate.”
Reform leader's stance
When approached by the LDRS about his reposts on X which claim that climate change is a hoax and implied scientists are “hiding something from you”, Cllr Brown said his view on the matter is “quite nuanced.” He added: “The fact that I have liked a tweet does NOT make it my definitive position on the subject.
“What I do believe is that prosperity through growth makes any society much more effective in being able to mitigate climate change. And it is in that context that net zero measures having given us the highest industrial electricity prices in the world is doubly unfortunate.
“Declarations of climate emergency are more performative than substantial and risk wasting hard-pressed taxpayer’s money. The future with AI is looking very energy intensive. That makes us being uncompetitive in terms of electricity prices an economic disaster in the making, a slow motion car crash for the next generation’s future prospects.”
Cllr Brown did in fact repost the tweets, rather than just liking them. X users are unable to see the likes of other users.
Labour response
Councillor Salman Shaheen has accused the Tories of “burying their heads in the sand.” He said: “If the Tories want to keep on pretending they’re an administration in waiting, a word of advice. Don’t Look Up was meant to be a warning, not a guidebook.
“While they’re burying their heads in the sand in the face of droughts and record-breaking heatwaves, we’re getting on with preparing our borough for all eventualities with a Climate Change Resilience Plan to protect our communities from heatwaves and floods, and planting tens of thousands of trees, which will help cool our public spaces. And we’re actively playing our part to bring down carbon emissions through our Climate Emergency Action Plan, decarbonising our buildings and operations to reach net zero by 2030.
“By installing solar panels on school rooftops, building a new Hounslow Heat Network and forging a Strategic Energy Partnership, we’re bringing in green investment into the borough, creating good local jobs, and lowering costs for businesses and residents, all while tackling climate change.”
This comes as Londoners are being banned from using hosepipes amid a drought after an exceptionally hot summer which as left rivers and water levels lower than normal. Parts of the city experienced up to 42 consecutive days without measurable rainfall as of August 2026.
