Disposable BBQs should be banned this summer, MP says, as wildfires burn across Britain
Labour's High Peak representative Jon Pearce tells LBC he’s ramping up his local campaign to go national
Disposable BBQs should be banned this summer amid the wildfire crisis, an MP is demanding.
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Jon Pearce, the Labour MP for High Peak, told LBC he’s ramping up his local campaign to go national after the dangerous spreading of fires across the UK in recent weeks.
His constituency is one of the most high-risk places for wildfires across the UK, and local retailers there have agreed in some places not to sell them.
Mr Pearce told LBC there’s a role for retailers, and for local government, due to the dangers.
He told Asmah Mir: “We’ve seen devastating wildfires locally, which were started by disposable BBQs. They are one of the major causes of wildfires and we’ve just got to do everything we possibly can to reduce the risk.
“National retailers suspending the sale would be a massive step in the right direction. We must do as much as we can as a country to stop the risks.
"The impacts are devastating. We’ve seen hundreds of acres of moorland destroyed. There are retailers like Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and Lidl who already don’t sell disposable BBQs.
"Lots of retailers have agreed not to sell in my area, but it’s time all retailers joined the campaign and suspended their use.
"These things are just dangerous. The base of them can get to 200 - 300 degrees. Using them in a public area is a risk.
"Hot ash can cause fires in parks; we see people disposing of them in bins. They’re dangerous in public spaces. We hear stories of people being burned.
"We can’t just rely on the goodwill of retailers.”
"There’s then got to be a role for government. I’ll be stepping up my wider campaign to ban them in public areas."
He spoke as almost 50 firefighters battled a blaze near Colchester on Friday.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has asked the public to avoid the area so crews can park fire engines near hydrants.
And the PM offered resources to Suffolk after a blaze broke out there earlier this week.
Huge parts of France and Spain have been ravaged by fires as the continent's heatwave continues.
Energy Secretary Mitta Fanbulleh told LBC yesterday that the government was “monitoring it really closely” and insisted fire services do have the resources they need.
And she said the recent heatwaves show that climate change is “knocking in our door”.
She said: "Our Fire and Rescue Service, which is world-class, you know, on hand, and we will work together really, really collaboratively to make sure that we're protecting households.
"Now, people will be worried, and I understand that, and our job is to make sure that we're there and we're there supporting, responding to them.
"But the reason why I'm so honoured to be doing this job is I'm very, very conscious that we are, if you like, at that tipping point with climate.
"The experts are really clear about what this means for us and what it means for our communities in the world if we don't get this right.
"There is a huge responsibility for us to get it right.
"And if we do that in the way that I believe we can as a government, we're not only doing the job of protecting homes and families and business from the impact of climate change that we are seeing through those wildfires, and we will see through floods and other things, but we're also doing it in a world way that we're putting record investment into our economy.”