Richard Tice should apologise to firefighters for his comments this week urging British people to “enjoy” this summer’s extreme heat, according to the Labour party chair.
Bridget Phillipson has called on Reform’s deputy leader to say sorry to those who, over the last few weeks, have battled wildfires across the country that have forced evacuations and destroyed homes.
Her comments underline Labour’s confidence that voters have been alienated by Reform’s increasingly strident attacks on net zero policy, even as the prime minister comes under pressure for saying relatively little on the issue.
Tice told a press conference this week: “When it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it. And if it means that English wine and sparkling wine gets better and better, fantastic. That means we can take on the French – fantastic.
“Let’s celebrate some of these things rather than just be sort of doom and gloom about it.”
Phillipson told the Guardian on Wednesday: “I think he owes an apology to the firefighters who were battling in extreme conditions, putting themselves and their lives at risk in order to protect people’s homes and deal with these extraordinary fires that we’ve seen. He should apologise to them.
“It’s not funny to crack jokes about sparkling wine at a point at which our brave firefighters are out there kind of battling the real-world impact of what we’re seeing from climate change.”
Reform did not respond to a request to comment.
Labour has sought to highlight Tice’s comments in recent days, including by releasing a video putting his words next to footage of homes destroyed in the Stourbridge wildfire.
He made the remarks as part of a broader attack on net zero policies, which have also been a target of the Conservative party in recent days, despite the increasing frequency of extreme heat events.
Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, gave a speech on Wednesday criticising the government’s push to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. She said the UK “should focus all our attention on making electricity cheap, and then let consumer choice be king”.
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Andy Burnham has been criticised by climate campaigners for saying little about the climate crisis. The prime minister held a Cobra meeting last week to discuss the impact of the heatwave and drought, but failed to mention climate breakdown, focusing instead on disposable barbecues.
Later, on a visit to Stourbridge, he said: “We have to face up to the changing climate … there’s no point denying where we are. We need to face up to it. We need more clean energy.”
Ministers are expected to announce in the coming weeks whether they will approve two new giant oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Phillipson defended Burnham’s record on the climate crisis. “I don’t think it’s fair to say he hasn’t spoken about it,” she said. “And he’s seen it first-hand on his visit to the West Midlands – the real impact of what this means in terms of people’s lives, their communities, their homes, the devastation that’s been caused.”
