The slow cleanup of the storm damage left by Storm Arwen

ON Friday, 26 November 2021 Storm Arwen hit the UK with high winds, that at times where close to 100mph, in what was a devastating arctic blast, that killed 3 people. Even after the winds started to gradually easing off, rain and snow still affected large parts of the UK, resulting in power outages and transport issues.

On Merseyside as the storm approached, the Met Office has issued a rare Red Weather Warning for coastal areas in the Northeast of the UK and that warning definitely helped to save lives.

In places roads became blocked by significant damage to buildings and trees, but even after the storm the calm bright even more hazards as conditions turned icy, making the removal of fallen trees and the clean up even more challenging.

As extremes of weather events like strike the UK more frequently, should we start to get use to this and expected worse to come? Please do email us your comments about the  to our Newsroom, at:-  News24@SouthportReporter.Com.

North West MPs missing a trick on climate, new poll of local voters shows

A new polling carried out by Opinium for climate communications charity, Hope for the Future, shows political parties and MPs could be missing a trick when it comes to winning over voters in the North West. If there was a General Election tomorrow, 40% of people in the North West say that climate change would be 1 of the top priorities, if not the highest priority, for their vote. A further 31% say it would be important to how they vote, but below other issues. And yet, 28% of people in the Region answered:- "don't know" when asked which party has the best policies on climate change. Looking at those who did choose a party,  the Green Party was the clear frontrunner on climate policies with 31%, followed by 17% who said Labour and 13% for the Conservatives. 

Since the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, climate change has overtaken the economy to become the 2nd most pressing issue for the British public; behind only health/the NHS. 37% of people in the UK say it is 1 of the top 3 biggest problems facing the country, rising from 33% in just 2 weeks. The North West saw the biggest surge of any Region in the UK, increasing from 27% to 37%. Comparing this with historical data, climate change has never been more important to people in the UK. 

In addition, 30% of people in the Region want to meet with their MP for the 1st time to discuss taking further action on climate change. With the highest proportion of people (44%) saying they would have a more favourable opinion of their MP if they supported action on climate change, the data suggests this issue is ripe for voter engagement.

Sarah Jordan, Director of Hope for the Future said:- "Although all political parties see opportunities in greener platforms, our research shows they are clearly behind the curve of public opinion, and some MPs are still operating under the wrong assumption that parts of the British public are uninterested in, if not hostile to, meaningful action on climate. But it's not difficult to see that climate change is climbing to the top of voters' priorities and that they're looking to their MP and the Government for leadership."

With 49% of people in the North West, appearing to be thinking that the UK Government should be doing more to address climate change, with just 11% believe it is doing too much. This relates to the fact that almost 3 times as many people in the Region say it will cost too much not to tackle climate change now and we should be prioritising it (56%) compared to those who believe it will cost too much to tackle it now and we should be prioritising other things (21%). In line with this, 66% think we should reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or earlier.

Part of the reason for this desire to act sooner rather than later is that people are much more likely to see opportunities than threats in tackling climate change. Where 30% of people in the North West tend to think that tackling climate change will threaten jobs in their Region, 53% think it will create new jobs. Again, where 28% tend to think it will shrink the local economy, 53% think it will boost the local economy.
 
When asked to select the top 3 green sectors that new, high quality jobs are most likely to come from in the Region, the highest proportion of people in the North West (37%) chose upgrading buildings to improve energy efficiency, followed by building renewable energy infrastructure such as 30% picking wind turbines, and 25% opting for expanding public transport.

The survey also identifies a broad range of areas where local MPs and businesses alike should build on an existing willingness to take personal action. People in the North West are more likely than the national average to be looking to replace their gas boiler with a cleaner alternative (47% versus 39% average) and drive an electric car instead of a petrol or diesel 1 (47% versus 42% average). Furthermore, 42%s are likely to improve their home insulation and switch to a renewable energy provider (42%). 36% say they are likely to reduce their meat consumption; the 2nd highest percentage of any Region in the UK, after London. 

Sarah Jordan added:- "It's really striking that people don't know who has the best policies on climate change and it shows that political parties and MPs need to better communicate what they stand for on this issue. Importantly, they need to realise the benefits of a green transition for their Region and support constituents in their own efforts to take personal action. Hope for the Future works to facilitate this sort of communication between constituents and their MPs."

Concerned Warrington South constituent, Nina Dar, received support from Hope for the Future after facing difficulties engaging with her local MPs about the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill. Nina said:- "The support from Hope for the Future has been critical to our campaigning efforts - their clout and exposure helped to secure MP attendance at our climate change event. Conservative MP Andy Carter was very candid and is personally passionate about green issues, which was really reassuring in light of COP26. Some change will come as a result of the media attention from COP26, but what we need, and what Andy Carter has made clear they need in order to push the agenda, is more people to be more vocal about the importance of green issues."

Bolton constituent, Tim Cosford, has received support from Hope for the Future and is in regular correspondence with Chris Green MP. Tim believes that, since COP26 was hosted in the UK, there is a better platform for talking about climate change and more opportunity for people across the country to engage in the issue. Tim said:- "Climate change action is something that should boost the local economy, with the community benefitting from greener transport infrastructure as a result of investment and also more nature-based solutions that will contribute towards improved flood management. Our MP for Bolton West and Atherton constituency has shown interest in climate change action policies, most notably around train electrification and also other planning policies, but there's a lot more to be done."