Good morning, and if you’re in the parts of the UK where temperatures are heading for record highs today, I hope your night’s sleep was less sweat-ravaged than mine. Yesterday afternoon, similarly damp Conservative MPs packed into a sweltering committee room in Westminster to listen to their candidates for leader talk about the climate crisis – and while the meeting did elicit a U-turn from Kemi Badenoch, who finally joined the others by saying she would back the government’s net zero target, to some observers was an air of unreality about the whole thing.
As much of the country wilted under conditions that will only become more common as the planet heats up, and parts of Europe continued to deal with wildfires, backbenchers who support the net zero targets viewed the fact that all five candidates have nominally committed to the UK’s climate targets as a success – but many observers fear that the pledges are only skin deep. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson skipped a Cobra meeting to manage the UK’s response, instead attending the Farnborough airshow.
A few hours later, Tom Tugendhat was eliminated from the race – but the limited plans laid out by those who remain have drawn scepticism from climate experts. I spoke to the Guardian’s environment correspondent Fiona Harvey about what the change of prime minister will mean for the climate – and whether there’s any hope of a new Conservative environmentalism.
Also! We asked you yesterday to tell us how you’re handling the heat, and Nimo has assembled some of the most interesting responses. Particular thanks to Oscar, who I’m going to emulate in getting even more out of the Guardian and the Observer by using old print copies to cover the windows. First, here are the headlines.
Five big stories
Monarchy | Generations of the royal family have concealed details of assets worth more than £180m through a series of legal applications that have been granted in total secrecy, a Guardian investigation has found.
Ukraine | Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appointed an experienced security official as acting head of the domestic security agency after a shake-up that has renewed questions over Russian intelligence infiltration of key ministries.
Labour | Keir Starmer has ruled out even an informal post-election deal with Liberal Democrats, following a similar pledge about the Scottish National party, as Labour seeks to close down Conservative accusations about a possible coalition.
Child health | One in four children in England are on diets, research suggests, with the proportion who are considered healthy but trying to lose weight almost tripling. Scientists called the rise in dieting among children of a healthy weight “alarming”.
Climate | As record breaking heatwaves sweep Europe, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that humanity is facing a “collective suicide” if things don’t change immediately. Guterres stated that “half of humanity is in danger zone.”
In depth: What a change in PM means for the environment
When Boris Johnson finally resigned, Fiona Harvey published a piece that noted his government’s many failures on the climate crisis, but also warned of something worse in store. “One group will be lamenting the end of the Johnson era,” she wrote. “Green Tories have seen the prime minister as their best hope for years, and are concerned that his successor will not live up to his promises.”
Ten days later, as the candidates to succeed Johnson have competed to arrive most belatedly and inadequately at an endorsement of net zero, that message seems pretty prescient. “Johnson has achieved very little,” Fiona said. “But nobody else in the higher echelons of the Conservative party gives a stuff. He was the only champion green Tories had.”
The commitment of the contenders to replace him is so flimsy that in an interview with Fiona at the weekend, Cop26 president Alok Sharma dangled the threat of resignation. Yesterday, there were signs that had made at least some difference: Liz Truss joked to the Conservative climate hustings that her main priority was avoiding Sharma’s exit, Helena Horton reports.
“They’re all trying the green stuff on now,” said Fiona. “But they’re all deeply unconvincing.” Here’s the breakdown of where the candidates stand, and what the consequences might be:
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What’s making the Tory contenders so weak on the climate crisis?
1 Themselves
Only Penny Mordaunt has set out a detailed positive view of the case for tackling the climate crisis since the race began (in an interview with the Guardian) – and she has also promised to cut green levies and halve VAT on fuel. Kemi Badenoch called the target a form of “unilateral economic disarmament” before she finally said she would abide by it yesterday.
The two most senior candidates do not have convincing track records, Fiona says. “Liz Truss was awful as environment secretary,” she said. “She was foreign secretary for Cop26, but she did nothing in the run-up, hardly went, and never talked about it again.” When she was asked about net zero at the Channel 4 debate on Friday, she quickly pivoted to “a new survey of nature”. “That was pathetic,” Fiona said. “Biodiversity is important, but we know the state we’re in. We don’t need to start counting voles.”
As for Rishi Sunak, “he was dreadful at the Treasury. He blocked funding for insulation, investment, carbon pricing – he just kiboshed everything.”
2 The political climate
When they have been asked about the climate crisis, the candidates have mostly seemed to have answered a different question – about the cost of living. Perhaps the best way to understand their qualified commitments in public is as a demonstration that they recognise the gravity of that problem, instead. At the ITV debate, Truss said achieving net zero mustn’t “harm people and businesses”. The rest of the candidates followed a similar line.
“The cost of living crisis has made all of this far more complicated than it’s been for years,” Fiona said. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “double-edged sword”: “If we had more wind and solar, we wouldn’t have this problem with the cost of gas. But you have people saying, dig up the coal. Squeeze every drop of oil from the North Sea.”
3 The electorate
Not the national electorate, which polls show clearly supports action on net zero – but the MPs and then party members who will choose the next prime minister. Perhaps more important than the well-known climate deniers on the right of the parliamentary party are the limits to support on the other side. “The Conservative Environment Network is about 100 backbenchers, but it’s incredibly soft – you can be part of the climate sceptic groups at the same time,” Fiona said.
Green Tories’ confidence in the viability of their position, she noted, was so low at the start of the campaign that they took a “let’s not make a fuss about it” line for fear of nudging the future leader into an anti-net zero position that they would later have to abide by. They’ve since abandoned that approach, as yesterday’s hustings suggests – “but there are still few for whom this is the make or break issue”.
The evidence about what Tory members think is mixed (and they’re hard to poll reliably). While Alok Sharma told Fiona that Conservative voters support net zero commitments, a YouGov poll yesterday found that only 4% of members view the 2050 target as one of their top three priorities.
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What does this mean for the net zero target?
1 It will not be abandoned in law
An important reason that candidates have accepted the net zero target in principle: it’s almost impossible to remove. One of Theresa May’s last acts as prime minister was to enshrine it in law, “and even with a majority of 80 you’re unlikely to be able to undo that.” International environment minister Zac Goldsmith told Channel 4 news last week that “No UK parliament is going to delegislate.”
2 It may well slip further down the list of priorities
So the next government may not abandon the letter of the law. But that doesn’t mean it will abide by its spirit. “The real worry is that you get someone who says they are committed to net zero, gives us all the platitudes, but does nothing about it,” Fiona said. “We’ve had something of that for the last three years under Johnson – a government that doesn’t actually grasp it wholeheartedly.” Whether the next PM winds up being Sunak, Truss, Mordaunt or Badenoch, all four have set out policies that would specifically make reaching the target harder.
3 A new conservative environmentalism could emerge … eventually
Fiona does see some grounds for optimism in Conservative mayors like Ben Houchen in Tees Valley and Andy Street in the West Midlands “going all out for green investment in their areas. They want the jobs.” And she notes that MPs in red wall seats “can see that they have no investment story to tell their communities – and tax cuts are not important to their voters. The way to reach them is to argue: how can you have a hopeful economic narrative for this country if you don’t base it on green growth?”
But if that project is to come to fruition within the Conservative party, it is likely to be a long game. And on days as hot as today, the urgency of the problem is more obvious than ever.
Heatwave mailbag
Yesterday, we asked you to tell us how you’re dealing with the extreme heat. Here’s a selection of your best suggestions:
“We’ve taped pages of your fine paper over many of our windows to keep the sun out. Now our house looks derelict and like something you might raid for supplies in The Last of Us. At least it’s cooler than usual, though.” Oscar
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“I’m a young 73 and coping with the extreme heat by using ice packs. I wrap them in a towel and rest my wrists on them while watching television in my shady room. I use them, wrapped in a towel, to cool my dog’s bed, too. I keep spare ones in the freezer and I’ve given some to my neighbours. Also, I fill my hot-water bottle with cold water and put it in the freezer for one hour and then take it to bed.” Christine
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“My wife and I have a two-week-old son, so have been a little nervous to see the forecast temperature go up and up. We’re giving our baby his first baths to try to clear sweat and relieve his heat rash. The heat means he wants to feed even more than usual, so it’s really important that his mother stays hydrated. Clothing can be quite tricky. He’s largely just wearing a nappy, but any breeze can throw his temperature regulation off balance so we have to have a thin blanket ready to drape across him.” Ben and Constance
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I sit with my feet in a bowl of ice-cold water. This cools the blood as it circulates around the body. I keep the curtains shut all day. I open the window and doors in the cooler times so that the colder air can circulate around the house.” Henrietta
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Neuropathic pain gets exceptionally worse in extreme heat. So I will stay in a darkened room, drink plenty of room-temperature water plus the odd hot drink (anything ice-cold makes the heat feel only worse) and just relax.” Annie
What else we’ve been reading
Amelia Gentleman’s piece about Sheila Seleoane, who lay dead in her flat for two years before her body was found, is beautifully reported and written. Stories like this sometimes imply that “nobody cares” – but Amelia reveals that Sheila’s neighbours did care; it was the forces structuring their lives that made their worries impossible to act on. Archie
British reality TV is no longer a moral vacuum that sees producers ply contestants with alcohol to maximise drama. Amelia Tait talks to former reality TV stars from Big Brother and Love Island about why reality TV is becoming increasingly sober. Nimo
George Monbiot sees the extreme heat in the UK as evidence that climate incrementalism – which “campaigns, issue by issue, sector by sector, for gradual improvements” – is a terrible mistake. He writes: “Only a demand for system change … has the potential to match the scale of the problem and to inspire and mobilise millions.” Archie
Kelsy Burke writes about her journey to naked yoga and how it has changed her life, explaining: “Our nakedness was a reminder of what we have in common as we navigate how best to live and relate to one another in our shared social world.” Nimo
Elle Hunt, a former work obsessive, found her drive easing off during the pandemic - and like many others, her life came into better balance as a result. She speaks to some very cheerful people who are part of “the great reevaluation”. Archie
Sport
Athletics | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the 100m world title at the age of 35 in Eugene, Oregon, in a time of 10.67 seconds. Jamaica swept the podium as Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith finished fourth.
Football | The Football Association has announced that deliberate heading could be banned for children under 12 in England in two seasons’ time to mitigate against health risks.
Cricket | Ben Stokes has announced that the one-day international against South Africa at Durham on Tuesday will be his last. Stokes said it was “unsustainable” to continue alongside his role as Test captain.
The front pages
Martin Farrer has rounded up the front pages for your viewing pleasure here – our regular summary follows.
“Johnson accused of ‘checking out’ as Britain swelters in searing heat” – the lead story in the Guardian print edition today. The Telegraph says “Record highs, travel chaos, schools close … and it’s going to get hotter”. The Mirror reuses its “Blowtorch Britain” strap and the headline is “Record baker” – people are showing lying on beach towels. “Britain is melting” says the Sun and the last word is manipulated so that it appears to melt. Fun with fonts as well in the Metro which says “Get ready for hottest day EVER” and EVER is in the red and orange of a licking flame. The i is portentous: “Earth sends a warning” – areas of Great Britain, Ireland and surrounding isles are shown in shades of red, orange and yellow according to their temperature extremes. The splash in the Times is “Tory race thrown wide open” though the “Crazy heat” gets the pic slot (it’s that Queen’s guardsman photo). The Daily Mail dares to suggest we’re being hysterical – “Sunny day snowflake Britain had a meltdown” – and it’s also pleased to report “Mordaunt’s No 10 bid hits buffers”. The top story in the Financial Times is “Arm’s London listing plan on hold after Johnson’s fall sparks turmoil”. And finally: “Can Truss turn up heat” – dear oh dear, Express – “to battle Rishi in run-off?”
Today in Focus
What will it take for the UK to adapt to extreme heat?
The UK is experiencing its hottest recorded temperatures this week with much of the country’s infrastructure struggling to cope. What will it take to adapt to far more regular heatwaves?
Cartoon of the day | Steve Bell
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
As the cost of living crisis spirals out of control, more and more people are finding it hard to pay for basic necessities such as food. To help alleviate some of this pressure, Grenfell and food bank volunteer Jacqui Haynes runs breakfast clubs and free lunches at St Peter’s Church in Paddington. The project started in 2005, with three-course Saturday lunch services, and now includes a full English breakfast for 50 people on Wednesdays. She does all of this work for free, explaining: “My whole life is surrounded by food. In north Paddington, people put me in their phone book as ‘Jacqui dinner lady’.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
