Reform Members Dismiss Climate Science, Demand Heat Aid — SkimNews
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- Richard Tice addressed Reform UK's Birmingham conference on day two, where a protest banner reading "Collect £5m, burn the planet" was briefly held up behind him before being removed; Tice has previously urged people to enjoy the summer's five successive heatwaves.
- Reform delegates voiced climate scepticism on the conference floor — one claiming CO2 was "10 times higher" during ice ages, another citing Norwich not being underwater, and several calling the issue "overhyped."
- The same Reform supporters who questioned climate science criticised the government for failing to protect people during the heatwaves, calling for air conditioning in hospitals, schools and libraries, better-designed new-build housing, and more support for farmers.
- Polling indicates roughly 70% of Reform voters want higher fossil fuel taxes, about a quarter support the net zero target, and majorities back renewable energy sited locally — positions that directly contradict party leadership, which wants to scrap the North Sea windfall tax.
- Labour climate minister Katie White said Reform was "out of step with voters," pointing to government investment in flood defences and wildfire response, and urging the party not to turn climate change into "another culture war."
- Michael Jacobs, emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Sheffield, attributed the contradictions to "myths and lies" propagated by party leaders, calling claims that net zero would be economically ruinous "simply wrong."
- A 25-year-old Reform councillor candidate from the north-west broke from the consensus, saying: "I'm not sure what they should be doing on the climate... but I know I and my generation will have to live with it."
Why it matters: Polling suggests roughly three-quarters of Reform voters back higher fossil fuel taxes or net zero — views that contradict Tice's and Farage's public stance. Professor Jacobs attributes the conference contradictions to "myths and lies" the party leadership has propagated, leaving Reform internally split as Britain faces repeated summer heatwaves demanding adaptation.
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