David Lammy was told to concentrate on his day job yesterday after he claimed that climate change is a greater threat than Vladimir Putin.
The Foreign Secretary, in his first major policy speech, focused on the environmental impact of rising temperatures rather than wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
He described climate change as the ‘most profound and universal source of global disorder’ and vowed to prioritise the issue.
But the Tories accused him of a failure of leadership at a time when the UK faces significant global threats.
Shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat said: ‘Two months in and it could not be clearer that the Foreign Secretary, and this Labour Government, has no grasp of the real threats facing this country from terrorists and hostile states. From Sir Keir down, we are seeing an utter failure of leadership at home and on the world stage.
The Foreign Secretary (pictured) on Tuesday. In his first major policy speech, he focused on the environmental impact of rising temperatures
Mr Lammy described climate change as the ‘most profound and universal source of global disorder’ and vowed to prioritise the issue (pictured: File image of a solar farm in Cornwall)
David Lammy claimed that climate change is a greater threat than Vladimir Putin (pictured)
Shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat (pictured) said: ‘Two months in and it could not be clearer that the Foreign Secretary, and this Labour Government, has no grasp of the real threats facing this country’
Since being elected, Labour has accelerated the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. (Pictured: BP Eastern Trough Area Project oil platform in the North Sea)
‘Labour and David Lammy need to step up, do their jobs and keep the British people safe. Britain deserves better.’
Mr Lammy opened his address at Kew Gardens, south-west London, by saying: ‘Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have dominated my time in office so far. But I was very clear in opposition that, in this job, I would focus on the most profound and universal source of global disorder – the climate and nature emergency.’
Justifying his decision to concentrate on the issue, he said: ‘The threat may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an imperialist autocrat, but it is more fundamental. It is pervasive and accelerating towards us at pace.’
Yet Downing Street declined to endorse Mr Lammy’s claim that climate change is the biggest threat to the UK.
Asked whether the PM agreed, a No 10 spokesman said: ‘He thinks that climate change is a huge challenge which faces us all. That is why as part of the UK’s reset on the world stage, he believes it is important for the Government to position itself as a leader on climate change.’
Mr Lammy had announced a Global Clean Power Alliance of countries to focus on green energy and said he would appoint a UK special representative for climate change and nature.
He said a ‘hard-headed realist’ approach using diplomatic and financial levers was needed to slow rising temperatures.
Branding the previous Conservative government ‘climate dinosaurs’, he said they had relied too much on fossil fuels rather than renewables. Mr Lammy said tackling climate change would be his major focus, adding: ‘I’m committing to you that, while I am Foreign Secretary, action on the climate and nature crisis will be central to all the Foreign Office does.’
Since being elected, Labour has accelerated the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
It has also paved the way for more wind turbines, solar panels and electricity pylons to be built.
Mr Lammy also appeared to row back on the Tories £12billion fund to tackle global climate change, saying: ‘Ahead of the spending review, they’re carefully reviewing our plans to do so.’