Ministers' net zero strategy must match words with action

Ed Miliband has made a passionate and patriotic case for climate action in his first annual statement to parliament on the devastating impacts of global heating.

- Helena Horton

The energy secretary said: "To those who say Britain cannot make a difference, I say: 'You are wrong. Stop talking our country down. British leadership matters.'"

It is a speech which a few years ago would have been unremarkable. But now the cross-party climate consensus has broken, with the Tories saying they would ditch net zero targets and Reform politicians questioning the extent of human-made climate change.

The likes of Liz Truss and Nigel Farage have teamed up with US-based climate-denying thinktanks to coordinate their unscientific message, and Miliband is often attacked by the rightwing press over his net zero plans. In yesterday's speech he made it clear he is willing to fight back.