'Reform are now doing their best to reverse the positive work we have been doing.'
Amid the third heatwave so far this summer, Reform-run Durham County Council has submitted a motion to ditch the council’s 2019 climate emergency declaration.
Darren Grimes, the former GB News presenter claimed he is tabling the motion “to inject a bit of common bloody sense into Durham County Council”.
Last month, councillors pressed the Reform UK administration on whether they would continue to commit to reducing carbon emissions, to which they responded that they would review the council’s net-zero policies.
Mark Wilkes, the climate lead under Durham’s previous Lib Dem administration, told the Guardian that the Reform motion is both “morally reprehensible” and “economically illiterate”.
He said that there will be a cross-party challenge at the vote on the motion tomorrow.
Wilkes said that the climate change initiatives the previous administration implemented have saved the council money.
He added: “We took Durham county council to the best in the region at tackling climate related issues and Reform are now doing their best to reverse the positive work we have been doing.”
Yesterday, the Met Office published its annual climate report, in which it said “temperature and rainfall extremes are becoming the norm”.
Last December, Durham County Council won a national climate change award for cutting its annual carbon footprint by 50,000 tonnes over 15 years.
Since taking control of the council in May, Reform has renamed several key departments to remove references to climate change, diversity and inclusion.
In a post on X, Grimes responded to the Guardian’s news article on the motion, stating: “The Guardian’s at it again, wailing like a bairn who’s dropped his ice cream because Reform UK’s daring to inject a bit of common bloody sense into Durham County Council.
“They’re foaming at the mouth over my motion to bin that virtue-signalling 2019 ‘climate emergency’ declaration – the one that had us chasing rainbows while our social care system’s on its knees.”
Meanwhile, at West Northamptonshire Council, Reform is planning to scrap targets for the council’s operations to be net-zero by 2030.
Given Reform UK has received over £2 million in donations from fossil fuel interests since 2019, its attempts to undermine climate action at a local government level are concerning, but not surprising.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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