Business of the House

Bobby Dean Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

I join the Leader of the House in his comments about Ann Widdecombe. She was a conviction politician and she was respected for that. I join Mr Speaker, and I am sure Madam Deputy Speaker as well, in thanking the staff for all their service over the course of the term.

I had hoped to start by triumphantly demanding the confirmation of a bank holiday, but I will have to change tack slightly and desperately plea with the Government to give us a day off anyway so that we can get over the trauma of last night.

More importantly, I raise something that I do not think our nation talks about enough, which is the weather and, more specifically, the relationship between the weather and climate change. A study that came out this week said that of the 2,500 articles about extreme weather over the last few weeks, 72%—the vast majority—made no mention at all of climate change. That is despite the fact that scientists tell us that the link between the two is indisputable. The idea that this is a freak, one-off event is, frankly, for the birds, and the Met Office has confirmed this week that

“the climate of the 20th century has now gone.”

The number of days at over 30° in London has quadrupled and the warm weather is even moving further north.

The impact is pretty serious, and we have seen it on our schools, our hospitals, our workplaces and public transport, which have all ground to a halt at times. More seriously, 2,700 deaths in May and June have been linked to heat-related causes. Will the Leader of the House organise for the relevant Minister to come to this place and explain the link between extreme heat and climate change, and lay out what the Government are set to do to mitigate the effects?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

As the hon. Gentleman says, climate change is already making heatwaves more frequent, longer lasting and more severe. We are absolutely committed to making sure that we are able to deal with our changing climate. We are transitioning to renewable energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net zero and adopting infrastructure for extreme weather. I note that there was a well-attended Westminster Hall debate this week on preparedness for extreme heat. When we return after the summer, there may be a strong case for either a statement or a debate to reflect on what has happened and what lessons we can learn.