Reform says we need to choose between climate and economy. It's wrong | Larry Elliott

The party’s deputy leader Richard Tice says we should stop worrying about extreme heat and enjoy it. This dangerous nonsense will wreck our finances and the planet

S

o now we know: the smart response to the UK’s summer of record temperatures is to do precisely nothing. According to Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, the climate crisis is just one of those things. Nothing can be done about it, so we should simply bask in the sunshine.

It is reasonable to assume Tice would not have said anything quite as crass had he been addressing people in Stourbridge who have seen their homes burn to the ground. Or the farmers whose crops shrivel in parched fields. Or the firefighters exhausted from battling wildfires across Britain.

Yet Tice clearly thinks he is on to something. The cost of living crisis has put the government’s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 under the spotlight. The assumption underlying Tice’s comments is that there is a trade-off between tackling the climate emergency and raising, or even maintaining, living standards – and that for the time being, the latter should take priority.