From: Barry Cohen, Totnes.

PM Andy Burnham deserves credit for acting quickly on this summer’s heatwave and wildfires. Following Polanski’s call on August 5 for a COBRA meeting, Burnham chaired one on August 12.

By August 14 the government had restricted sales of disposable barbecues, deployed military personnel, promised additional fire-service funding, considered aerial firefighting capability and appointed Baroness Blake of Leeds as fire minister. A summit bringing together fire chiefs and other organisations has also been announced.

That’s hitting the ground running - but largely addressing symptoms. What about causes?

Prime Minister Andy Burnham meets with Dan Harris, Chief forecaster at the met office in Exeter. PIC: Finnbarr Webster/PA Wire

placeholder image — Prime Minister Andy Burnham meets with Dan Harris, Chief forecaster at the met office in Exeter. PIC: Finnbarr Webster/PA Wire

The risks will not disappear with cooler weather. Extreme heat, drought and wildfires threaten lives, homes, infrastructure and food production. Climate change should be treated as a national emergency.

Burnham should therefore commit to accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, protecting nature and disincentivising activities that worsen climate change. That means curbing airport expansion, ending new North Sea oil and gas development and forcing water companies to stop degrading our water environment.

He should also set a date for the promised fire-services summit and convene a televised National Emergency Briefing on climate and nature, as governments did during Covid.

There is substantial public support for environmental protection and action on climate breakdown, and the argument should be based on evidence rather than populist claims. The government itself acknowledges that North Sea oil and gas prices are set internationally and that new licensing would not reduce bills or make Britain energy secure.

If Burnham chooses short-term economic arguments over scientific evidence, where’s the integrity? Would voters who abandoned Starmer’s Labour for the Greens and returned for Burnham abandon Labour again? Would they ask, can we trust him with the safety and security of the British people?