Richard Tice accused of being ‘completely out of touch’ after telling Britons to enjoy the heatwave

'If English wine and sparkling wine gets better and better, fantastic'

The remarks landed in a week in which wildfires forced people from their homes in Stourbridge in the West Midlands.

Researchers estimated 2,700 heat-related deaths during the May and June heatwaves alone, 42 per cent of them attributed to human-induced warming, as the Independent reported.

Nigel Farage’s deputy accepted climate change is “real”, but argued there is no proof net zero policies will halt it.

What Richard Tice actually said

"I’m old enough to remember 1976, this feels a bit the same. I think when it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it. And if it means that English wine and sparkling wine gets better and better, fantastic. Let’s celebrate some of these things rather than just be sort of doom and gloom about it", Tice said.

James Sutton, co-director of Zero Hour, said: “When almost 3,000 people have died from extreme heat, and what has felt like endless heatwaves may have cost the UK £4.4bn, Richard Tice’s comments are completely out of touch with the public.”

Danny Gross, of Friends of the Earth, told the Mirror: “If Richard Tice wants to live in a world of make believe, that’s his call.”

It is an awkward line for a party trying to broaden its appeal beyond immigration, and it lands with Reform UK’s polling position already under scrutiny.

For most people the question is more immediate — chiefly, how to keep cool in a UK heatwave when the next one arrives.