The Climate Change campaign group, Extinction Rebellion recently took their peaceful protests to MPs’ offices across the country. Following that, Tony Lloyd “met” (online) with Rochdale’s local Extinction Rebellion group. Led by Reverend Mark Coleman, the group is made up of concerned citizens who are all troubled by the inaction of our government and governments across the world, to tackle our biggest looming threat, Climate Change.

They asked for Tony’s declaration to Rochdale residents and to the government that the current target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050 is too late. Tony was more than happy to confirm that that was his view as the science is clear. 2050 is too late and these current targets will change all our ways of life massively for the worse and could cost millions of lives.

Coronavirus has proven that when we need to make a change, we can do it. But it seems this government only gets round to doing things when the threat has already started and when it is too late. We all know the impact of the virus would have been less severe had the government acted faster. They must learn from this grave error, stop ignoring the facts, and put Climate Change to the top of the agenda. Scientists have been warning us for decades and we’re already seeing the impact.

We’ve seen the brutal fires which ravaged Australia earlier this year, our marine life is under threat as the seas become more acid, the Polar ice caps are reducing year by year and even here in Rochdale we have endured the enormous impact of flooding, and this is only the beginning. Why then, is this out-of-his-depth Prime Minister and this talentless government still not taking this matter seriously? The economic recovery we now face offers us a last opportunity to reset, be bold and create a green recovery. This is the message Tony Lloyd and Extinction Rebellion shared together – we must act now.

The message Tony passed back to the group was simple, “Let’s work together, let’s change this town, let’s change this world. Future generations need us to act and the time for that action is now.”