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European Council

I have not been the greatest watcher of Channel 4’s ““Dispatches””, for pretty obvious reasons, over the years. The hon. Gentleman is right: there are people who still dispute the science on climate change, but there is a problem. In most respects, I am a fan of people who are prepared to be iconoclastic and say things that are unpopular, even if the conventional wisdom is all one way, so I do not dispute his right to raise those issues at all. However, the fact is that all people who advise us say that the science is becoming increasingly clear, not less so, and the fact is that, should we not take action, and it turns out that the warnings of climate change are right, the implications are enormous. Even on a precautionary principle, it is as well to take avoiding action now. The debate will carry on among scientists, but as I have watched it develop in the past few years, the body of opinion has moved very solidly in favour of this threat being real. Therefore, the implications of it being real are so enormous that we would be foolish not to sit down and take action now.