Reform’s Tice says people should stop tackling climate crisis and ‘enjoy’ heat

Reform’s deputy leader has dismissed efforts to tackle climate breakdown as futile, as he urged British people to “enjoy” the warmth of the recent heatwaves.Richard Tice told a press conference on Monday he believed it was “arrogant” to try to stop the climate emergency and added that politicians should focus instead on adaptation efforts, while encouraging people to focus on upsides such as better English wine.Tice was speaking after a record-breaking summer during which temperatures have risen above 35C several times, causing thousands of deaths, millions of hospital visits and costing the UK an estimated £4bn in economic output.The climate breakdown has been linked to the increasing frequency of wildfires, which are burning larger areas across many parts of the world. The so-called firewave the UK witnessed weeks ago was the most widespread the country has seen, with the combination of wet winters and prolonged heatwaves exacerbating the risk.The National Farmers’ Union has said farmers are facing “one of the worst ever” harvests, while firefighters have battled wildfires in Derbyshire, the Midlands, Wales and Northern Ireland.Asked for his response to the extreme heat events, Tice told a press conference: “Of course, the climate changes, but where is the evidence that net zero is going to stop it? Where is the evidence? There is no evidence.“Climate change has always happened. It always will. Maybe the smarter thing to do is to adapt to it than think arrogantly that you can stop it.”Comparing this summer’s heat with that of 1976, which went on for longer but was less intense, Tice added: “That was 50 years ago … I think when it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it. And if it means that English wine and sparkling wine gets better and better, fantastic. That means we can take on the French – fantastic. Let’s celebrate some of these things rather than just be sort of doom and gloom about it.”Reform has long campaigned to scrap the government’s commitment to reaching net zero by 2050 and has promised to end green subsidies if elected.The party has taken tens of millions of pounds in donations from people with connections to the fossil fuel industry since it was set up in 2019, most notably from the billionaire Christopher Harborne, who owns a jet fuel brokerage and whose £5m gift to Nigel Farage is now at the centre of a parliamentary inquiry.While Farage has questioned the role that human activity has played in changing the climate, his deputy leader has been more outspoken in denying that the planet is experiencing a climate crisis at all.He posted in 2024: “We are not in climate emergency; nor is there a climate crisis. But yes, climate change is real because it has happened for millions of years past & will do in future.”Tice has long supported backing climate mitigation efforts rather than measures to tackle the climate crisis. On Monday he called on the government to invest in desalination plants, which he said worked well in the Middle East, where he spends much of his time.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“Where’s been the discussion about desalination plants that are used in other parts of the world very, very successfully?” he said. “Yeah, there’s not much water on land in the Middle East. They use desalination plants. We’re surrounded by water. It is too difficult to build a reservoir – let’s look at desalination plants.”Climate experts and campaigners criticised Tice’s comments on Monday. Alasdair Johnstone, the head of parliamentary engagement at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “Far from being an enjoyable experience, for many this summer will have brought hardship, with 2,877 deaths during the May and June heatwaves, over 1,100 of which are directly attributable to the extra heat added by climate change. Firefighters have been called to over 1,000 wildfires, which have devastated the landscape, displaced people, and destroyed homes.“The only way these climate change impacts can be prevented from becoming more common and severe is to tackle the cause, which means reaching net zero emissions by 2050.”Amy Cameron, a programme director for Greenpeace UK, said: “Tice’s words show that a party bankrolled by fossil fuel interests will keep denying the climate crisis for its funders’ benefit even when its impacts are undeniable. Reform should try telling nurses fainting on shifts, farmers losing their crops and people running from burning homes to enjoy the hot weather and see what reaction they’ll get.”The Reform press conference also heard Robert Jenrick say long-term benefits claimants would be made to clean up highs street and do charity work or face having their benefits taken away.He said that as part of the party’s “welfare to work” policy, long-term claimants who were fit to work would be forced to do 20 hours of community work a week.