‘It Never Comes Up on the Doorstep’

A ban on barbecues to tackle the heatwaves? It’s a worrying signal on where Andy Burnham and his Chancellor’s priorities lie, says Labour’s Clive Lewis MP

One of my first substantial exchanges with the now Chancellor, John Healey, was in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet in 2016-17. I had arranged a presentation on the climate crisis: the science, the decarbonisation task, the case for acting fast.

Healey was sceptical about the speed and scale being proposed. When I pushed back, he said something to the effect that climate ‘rarely came up on the doorstep’ – so why prioritise it if it wasn’t an issue for voters?

I was taken aback. Isn’t leadership doing what you know to be right whether or not it polls well, and then going out to make the public case?