In recent years, we’ve seen something of a resurgence in climate denialism. While it’s not the full-throated denial of the past, politicians and journalists are certainly doing what they can to convince us climate change isn’t as bad as the ‘doom mongers’ would have you believe. This ambient hostility has led to the government softening its support for climate measures. Despite this, the propagandising of Reform doesn’t seem to be cutting through to the public:
Just 21% of Britons believe the threat posed by climate change has been exaggerated, the lowest level recorded by our trackers in three years, following Britain’s record-breaking summer
Threats not exaggerated: 67% (+4 from 6-8 Jun)
Threats exaggerated: 21% (-4) pic.twitter.com/hVyTR4l3Fj— YouGov (@YouGov) August 18, 2026
The climate
It’s clear why the public is increasingly convinced that the climate is changing; it’s because the climate is clearly changing.
Over the past decade, we’ve seen a big increase in global extreme weather events. Now, we’re seeing more of these events at home. The extreme period of drought this year was once such event; as were the successive heatwaves. We’ve also seen wildfires that have burned down homes, as well as trains derailing – almost certainly due to extreme heat.
Hard to believe this is the UK.
Unfortunately the scenes in Stourbridge will almost certainly become more frequent as our climate continues to rapidly warm. pic.twitter.com/bx1OBEfN0A
— Met4Cast – UK Weather (@Met4CastUK) August 13, 2026
Looking at the YouGov poll, there’s been a big jump for people who think climate change isn’t exaggerated, and a significant dip for those who think it is. These changes are demonstrable across successive surveys, with the first being April 2026, the second being June, and the third being August. During this same period, we experienced successive heatwaves and drought. Clearly, members of the public trust their own eyes more than they trust the weasel words of politicians like Richard Tice.
As we covered on 18 August, Tice of Reform UK wants us to ‘just enjoy the warm weather’. The problem, of course, is that unless we tackle the cause of climate change, this weather will just keep getting hotter and hotter. And at a certain point, life in this country will become unviable.
Tice is doubling down on the point too:
Richard ‘Stupid’ Tice is doubling down on his “we should celebrate climate change” nonsense, now claiming that eco‑zealots have “gone Tonto on him.” Never mind your house burning down, because apparently the real upside besides better British wine, you can also holiday in… pic.twitter.com/pXjstO0uU2
— The Rev. Anton Mittens
(@MittensOff) August 18, 2026
10 years ago, politicians could more easily get away with this sort of nonsense. Now, Reform’s Tice is asking people to celebrate scenes like this:
Richard and Rose-Anne Vinten had only lived in their home in Stourbridge for five months before it was entirely destroyed by wildfire this week. The couple’s doorbell footage captured the intensity of the fire pic.twitter.com/ic76mHGOXi
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 15, 2026
There’s another problem for Tice too – namely that there are more immediate benefits to climate action.
ULEZ
Modern right-wing politicians in Reform and elsewhere have raged against Net Zero and ULEZ for years now. The problem is there’s one group that have reacted very positively to ULEZ, and that’s children who breathe:
London’s ULEZ linked to improved lung growth in children, says studyhttps://t.co/LrUimJ7Wqa
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 18, 2026
Health measurements taken in 2018, before it was introduced, showed children in London had significantly smaller lung size compared with children in Luton.
But as the scheme was phased in, the study found the youngsters’ lung health improved so that the two groups became comparable over a five-year period.
A team led by scientists at Queen Mary University came up with their findings after giving more than 3,400 children, aged six to nine, yearly tests between 2018 and 2022.
They found that improved lung growth trajectories were strongly related to air quality improvements.
In other words, climate action won’t just secure a viable future; it will also make the present more pleasant.
Reform: a dead end
One the one hand, you’ve got wildfires burning down homes because of extreme temperatures and drought; on the other, you’ve got children breathing more easily because of climate action. Richard Tice and Reform UK want you to disbelieve the evidence of your own eyes, and it’s clear why; it’s because several of their big donors are fossil fuel tycoons.
Don’t listen to the hot air.
Featured image via Tolga Akmen / Garan Thomas
By Willem Moore
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