Liverpool MP urges Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to tackle the climate crisis head on with 'decisive action'
A Liverpool MP has joined Britain's biggest trade union leaders in urging Keir Starmer to tackle the climate and nature crises.
Delivering a letter to 10 Downing Street, representatives of 24 trade unions as well as a number of MPs including Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne delivered the letter ahead of the recent Spending Review.
They requested the Prime Minister set out a plan to “protect livelihoods, create decent work, and deliver a just transition”, with those supporting the letter including the leaders of the Public and Commercial Services Union, Fire Brigades’ Union, British Medical Association, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, and the University and College Union.
Local MP Ian Byrne is a supporter of the Climate and Nature Bill, which received strong support locally, with the entire group warning that the UK risks facing increasingly extreme working conditions due to rising temperatures and flooding, arguing that “environmental justice and economic justice are inseparable”.
The letter also calls on Starmer to help reskill workers employed in the fossil fuel industry, urging the Government to put workers at the forefront of our transition to net zero. The signatories have called for ministers to bring back the Climate and Nature Bill for debate alongside a cross-government approach to better engage with the Bill’s supporters.
These include measures to require the Government to set out measurable progress for workers and communities in the newly promised annual climate and nature statements. The private members’ bill was effectively put on pause by government whips back in January but received record support across the Commons, including almost 90 Labour MPs.
"Representatives of hundreds of thousands of workers across the country have delivered a clear message to the Prime Minister,” said Dr Amy McDonnell, Co-Director of Zero Hour, the campaign calling for the Climate and Ecology Bill. “The public, alongside thousands of businesses and organisations, desperately want Britain to lead on climate and nature action, not retreat from it.
“The Government is right to recognise many of the climate and nature threats that we face but without taking decisive action – like the measures set out in the Climate and Nature Bill – we risk succumbing to the devastating effects of climate change and the destruction of our natural world, which wreck our economy, endanger livelihoods and risk our national security.”