Adam Tyas, Coventry Socialist Party
Britain has experienced yet another extreme heatwave, the fifth of the year and one which has seen some of the worst and most drastic effects of climate change, combined with cuts, and severe lack of preparation from the privatised water network.
Almost three quarters of England and Wales are currently in drought, with sweeping hosepipe bans and water shortages. Five major reservoirs are at ‘exceptionally low’ levels, and total English reservoir levels are below 66%. Even more destructive, we’ve seen wildfires destroying acres upon acres of farmland, homes and communities, leaving the fire brigade stretched and unable to stop the damage.
These issues aren’t just isolated to this sudden stint of high heat and low rainfall, the climate crisis is being played out in front of our eyes, in real time. Extreme heat, drought, and wildfires will become more likely year on year: we are entering a period where extreme weather is becoming normal, but our infrastructure and public services are still being run as though it isn’t.
The most obvious example of this is that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) only has 20 of 6,600 staff working specifically on climate adaptation, around 0.3% of the workforce being dedicated to preparing for a crisis which is already affecting millions of people. This shows that while politicians may talk about climate change when there is a crisis in front of them, there has been nowhere near the level of public investment or preparation needed to actually deal with it.
The new prime minister Andy Burnham has taken some action, but nothing to properly deal with the long-term issues and impacts of climate change or the fundamental problems within the water industry. A ban on disposable BBQs, using the military to assist in operations, and calling an emergency response using the ‘alert system’ for the first time are reactive, almost desperate measures in the current situation – and wholly inadequate.
Research from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) shows how fire services have been hollowed out by Tory and Labour austerity and cuts. Staffing shortages have meant some engines unable to respond effectively. Over 12,000 jobs have been lost since 2010. We need properly funded fire and rescue services, with the jobs and resources lost through years of cuts restored. This must be demanded of Burnham and the new fire minister.
The failures of the privatised water industry have shown what happens when water is treated as a commodity to be managed for profit. Around 2.87 billion litres of water are lost through leaky pipes every day across England and Wales! We need to bring the water industry into public ownership, to secure investment in the reservoirs, pipes and infrastructure that we need. Other measures include investment in good-quality insulated council houses and public buildings, and massive investment in public transport. We need a serious transition away from greenhouse gases, one which recognises that workers should not be made to pay for the climate crisis.
The climate catastrophe cannot be solved by asking ordinary people to make sacrifices for capitalism’s crisis, while the infrastructure we all rely on continues to be neglected. We need investment, democratic public ownership, and properly funded public services to prepare for the extreme weather that is already here, while protecting workers and communities through the transition to a low-carbon economy. And we can’t rely on capitalism to do this, we need to take the wealth and power out of the hands of the super-rich and democratically plan production to safeguard our lives and the environments, not big businesses’ bottom lines.
