Dear Anthony.
This week, we’ve read that the Antarctic Thwaites Glacier could collapse within 5 years. It’s the size of Great Britain, and will wreak havoc, raising sea levels by 65cm – not immediately, but far faster than thought. What does that mean for the Hope Cove sea wall or our only rail connection east? Meanwhile we are seeing record high temperatures in the Arctic which will further disrupt the Jet Stream causing extreme weather here at home. This is part of a process which scientists tell us threatens the collapse of our civilization.
I am grateful that you speak out about regenerative agriculture, but I find your relative silence on the biggest threat humankind has ever faced alarming. We look to our MP for leadership, and I ask you now to step up and speak to your constituents about these vital matters of public safety, of the protection of our way of life, our society. I do understand that some of your supporters have followed the extreme right of the party into rejecting science and that they may not thank you for your honesty, but I urge you to think beyond those voices to the future, and speak up now for our young people, whilst there’s still time to prevent catastrophic consequences.
We in the UK are not insulated from the climate & nature crisis and will face increasingly intense flooding, storms, and heatwaves. There will be food shortages and migration as crop failure and drought increasingly hits developing nations. Voters will not reward you in the ballot box for having taken a comfortable back seat when you could have spoken up, led opinion not followed it, and called for the strong leadership on climate and nature that we need to see in Westminster.
We’re counting on you, Anthony.
Simon Oldridge,
Totnes
