PM bans disposable BBQs, deploys military vs wildfires
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- The Prime Minister announced a temporary GB-wide ban on disposable barbecue sales, asking retailers to withdraw them from store and online, branding Britain a "tinderbox" amid devastating wildfires.
- Downing Street has deployed the military to help fire services respond to 37 wildfires across Britain, while at least 19 people have been hospitalized in eight fires that ripped through several homes in Stourbridge, West Midlands.
- The Prime Minister said he plans to commission firefighting planes similar to those used in Europe and the US, calling on the country to "face up" to the "changing climate."
- Andy Burnham said emergency financial support for fire services is being drawn up, warning that hotter, drier conditions could persist through September and into October, raising the prospect of floods in late autumn.
- The PM has faced criticism for not addressing the climate emergency after his first Cobra heatwave meeting, while defending a "pragmatic" approach to North Sea drilling at the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields: "We won't be able to stop using oil and gas for some time, that's just a fact."
Why it matters: Britain is deploying the military and banning disposable BBQs to combat 37 wildfires as 19 people are hospitalized — even as the PM defends potential new North Sea drilling at the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields alongside plans to commission climate-adapted firefighting planes, exposing the tension between immediate fire response and long-term climate policy.
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