Climate Action Ilkley “secures" MP’s commitment to call on the government to deliver a televised emergency brief to the nation

The MP for Keighley and Ilkley said that he would call on the government to hold some type of televised national emergency briefing that would address the serious threat posed by climate change.

Speaking at a People’s Emergency Briefing last week, which was held at Ilkley Grammar School, Robbie Moore said that he was “more than happy” to write his own letter “asking for a national televised information package to be broadcast.

“I firmly take the view that the more people have the ability to understand a scenario, the more … informed [they are] to then make their own opinions on the back of that,” he said.

He added that while he believed this assurance would save people from writing to him – part of the National Emergency Briefing’s campaign recommends that the public contact their MPs urging them to sign up to the parliamentary call – he nevertheless welcomed people sharing more of their thoughts on climate change.

“What I am particularly interested in is the detail of where you would like policy to be developed on the themes that have been outlined tonight – things like water security, food security, nature security, energy security,” Moore said.

“Where I find it interesting is where you feel the government of the day, regardless of political colour, should be taking those policy areas rather than just writing to me to demand that I ask the prime minister to do a national briefing.”

His comments came during the open discussion that followed the screening of a film summarising key points from last November’s National Emergency Briefing, which also featured initial responses from the wider public, including some celebs.

“We are living in a society where the systems are geared to a way of life that is ultimately not sustainable,” said one of the 200 or so attendees at the People's Emergency Briefing in the town, which was organised and hosted by Climate Action Ilkley.

“Those systems are geared to an economy that's grown up under cheap fossil fuel that is no longer capable. We need to transition and I think the only way we can actually turn that ship around is actually to have strong government because it's a social contract.

“The government is there to protect us and protect our interests, so I do think we need to have some leadership at a national level to hold business to account and shift our economy towards not just a zero net zero energy economy, but a regenerative economy where we're using far less resources, water and energy systems than we do at the moment.”

Another guest said that she believed in individual responsibility, which had a powerful role to play in tackling climate change. “If you're worried about water security, you can take shorter showers,” she said. “You can become a vegetarian or just eat less meat. You have all these choices in your life.

“I do really think that we can't just sit there any longer and say this problem is going to go away. We've got to take personal responsibility for our own actions whenever we have the opportunity.”

There was also support for alternative energy solutions. “We talked about fossil fuels and the problems of those, but one thing I thought was missing from the whole film was actually any anticipated use of nuclear,” another audience member said.

“Many nuclear stations are considered to be on the way to clean that energy and I would have thought that somehow should find a place within this.”

Elsewhere, concern was expressed about the challenge posed by politicians and parties that didn’t necessarily share the same concerns about climate change.

“We’re ignoring the elephant in the corner – and that is the political party that is currently rising highest in the opinion polls, which has recently gained the largest group on Bradford Council, which is a party of climate change deniers,” the individual drawing attention to this said.

“Sadly, the vast majority of people who vote for Reform UK are quite unaware of their policies and we face a very dangerous situation if they should become a parliamentary majority.”

“I think this kind of objective national televised briefing would be great,” said another. “I'm slightly worried about maybe being government-backed because the danger is that it just becomes a political football. So I wonder whether you need the government to do this?”

Mike Daw from Climate Action Ilkley, who chaired the event, said that the group was pleased with Moore’s commitment to signing the call, “which also had the support of all but two of the 200 or so people attending”.

“These issues go way beyond party politics, so we hope to see many more MPs, from all parties, doing the same and signing the open letter to the government,” he concluded.