David Lammy: Climate change a more ‘fundamental’ threat than terrorism

Back to the Foreign Secretary, who seems unable to keep himself out of the headlines these days. It transpires that as well as being rather gaffe-prone on the subject of international relations – having described Donald Trump in the past as a ‘neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath’ – David Lammy has today taken it upon himself to wax lyrical about the dangers of the climate crisis. In fact, the Foreign Secretary even appeared to imply that climate change is a more urgent threat than Vladimir Putin or, er, terrorism. Quite the comparisons to choose…

Speaking in Kew Gardens about the need to tie climate action closer to foreign policy, Lammy warned his audience that ‘there will be no global stability without climate stability’, adding: ‘The threat may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an imperialist autocrat. But it is more fundamental. It is systemic. Pervasive. And accelerating towards us.’ Yikes.

It’s quite a change from the stance taken by Rishi Sunak’s Tory government – and Lammy was at pains to point this out.