Reform UK deputy leader says people should “enjoy” climate change tragedies with a bottle of wine

Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, held a press conference this week to address the ongoing climate emergency, during which over 1,000 people have died in this summer’s heatwaves alone.

Tice acknowledged that climate change is real, which placed him only slightly ahead of his colleagues, before adding that net zero will not stop it, that trying to stop it is arrogant, and that when it gets warm, the public should simply enjoy it.

He then cited English sparkling wine as a specific example of something worth enjoying, in remarks delivered in the same week that military units were deployed to help fight wildfires, farmers reported another failed harvest, and nurses were fainting on shifts.

Asked to elaborate on what he sees as “upsides” of a British heatwave, Tice also suggested that people on tight budgets could holiday in Skegness rather than France, noting approvingly that a large 99p Flake currently costs £2.50.

Pressed further, he accused critics of being “eco zealots” who needed to “relax and have a glass of wine”, a phrase he appeared to deploy without irony while arguing that a summer that killed over 1,000 people is fundamentally a reason to open a nice bottle of Chardonnay.

Labour released an attack ad. Greenpeace released a statement. The Mirror called him a “wine buffoon,” a description Tice said proved his point, though he did not explain how.

The Met Office confirmed temperatures will remain elevated through the week. Tice drunkenly confirmed this was fantastic.