Climate always comes second: are green issues slipping down Burnham’s agenda?

Prime minister says he’s committed to meeting climate targets, but some believe his actions suggest otherwise

Andy Burnham insists he is committed to the green transition, but his MPs worry that in decision after decision, he is showing that other priorities come first.

“Our changing climate is a major concern for many Britons, not least because we have just emerged from our hottest summer on record,” the prime minister wrote in the Guardian in September.

Since then, however, he has overseen a series of announcements that have dismayed green-focused Labour MPs.

First his energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, approved the Jackdaw gasfield. Then his chancellor, John Healey, announced a series of cuts to green schemes such as heat pump subsidies.