It may not have felt like it in Britain but Tuesday was the hottest day on record.
The World Meteorological Organisation said the average temperature across the planet was 17.18C. This is not a cause for celebration.
The effects of the climate crisis are being felt globally, whether it is cliffs collapsing due to rising sea levels, an increase in wildfires or
food shortages caused by drought or floods.
The climate emergency is the greatest challenge facing this generation.
Without action there will be irreversible damage to the environment and wildlife.
Far from confronting these dangers, PM Rishi Sunak is running away from them.
It is feared the Government could break its pledge to provide £11.6billion in funding to countries most exposed to climate change.
Closer to home it is set to miss 41 of its 50 targets to reduce carbon emissions.
As Mr Sunak fiddles, the world is burning.
Peer pressure
After bringing shame on his office, Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to hand out resignation honours.
It was all the more disgraceful that feeble Rishi Sunak waved through the list before the Privileges Committee revealed the full extent of the ex-PM’s lying over Partygate.
Former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey has been awarded a peerage despite attending a party that is being probed by police for potentially breaking lockdown rules.
The Tory claims it is for others to decide whether he should join the Lords, and with
it the right to create our laws.
This is wrong. He is able to reject the peerage and if he had any honour he would do so.
Reign supreme
Last year the King stood in vigil over his mother’s coffin at St Giles’ Cathedral.
Yesterday he returned to the Edinburgh church to receive the crown jewels of Scotland.
It was a day of pageantry and remembrance as the former Prince of Wales underlined his pledge to be the King for the whole of the UK.