"I had a bit of an argument with a Conservative councillor about it because I said: ‘It’s due to climate’ and he told me: ‘We shouldn’t be bringing politics into it.’ Well, yes we should.”
Hmm, no it's science.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘It’s due to climate’: the people of Stourbridge on the town’s wildfires
Thursday has been described by residents as ‘horrendous’, ‘distressing’ and ‘one of the scariest days of my life’
![Rising tide of voters warm to climate scepticism
Oliver Wright Policy Editor
Adam Vaughan Environment Editor
The number of Britons who think the dangers of global warming have been exaggerated has jumped by more than 50 per cent in the past four years, research for The Times reveals.
One in four voters believe that concerns about climate change are not as justified as scientists have said, against a backdrop of public concern at the cost of the government's net zero policies.
Less than a third of the public (30 per cent) are in favour of banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, down from 51 per cent in 2021. Only 16 per cent of voters said they would be prepared to pay higher gas bills to encourage the switch to electricity.
Experts said the findings showed that growing climate scepticism among mainstream politicians in Britain and the US was cutting through with voters and the broad consensus on climate action was breaking down.
"Climate change is being politicised in the UK] in the same way that has been done in the United States," said Professor Wouter Poortinga, an environmental psychologist at Cardiff Uni-versity.
"If you have Kemi Badenoch standing up saying that we're going to drill, baby, drill, that will have a polaris-ing effect."
The research, in collaboration with YouGov and the opinion consultancy Public First, compared public sentiment on climate change today with a study done by The Times in 2021.
There is concern at the top of Labour that its climate change policies could cost it votes at the next election. Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, has called for net zero policies to be scrapped.
Voters' priorities change, pages 10-11](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c4xtyto7nrklhfkroyrsce2w/bafkreihhvvzvnn573sfgnbm2fhafbtzkbm6e7c7q7c5psuv6wstdzdchbe)
