'People are going to ignore future warnings': Conservative MP accuses the government of 'misusing' emergency alert system
Residents were urged not to light fires in Britain due to the rising risk of wildfire caused by the drought
Britons are going to ignore future emergency alerts if the government keeps using it for "less urgent things", the Shadow Housing Secretary has told LBC.
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A message was sent out at 7pm on Friday that warned people of the growing wildfire risk and urged against lighting barbecues, campfires, and fireworks as the country struggles to battle a period of extreme drought.
But the alert has drawn criticism for issuing advice on an issue that has been in place for weeks, instead of it being for a sudden emergency.
Sir James Cleverly told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that the alerts should still be used but only in case of national emergencies.
He said: "This was brought in for an important reason, and it was brought in to give emergency national warning.
"The whole point of this is to let the country know at the same time if something sudden and dangerous is happening.
"This dry weather has been building up over weeks. Advice not to use mobile barbecues has been in place for weeks.
"Being careful about discarding cigarette butts, that's things that people should have known about for weeks.
"The government is misusing an emergency communications network for public information broadcasts, which could be done online, could be done on TV.
"If people get into the habit of ignoring them, which is exactly what will happen if the government keeps using it for less urgent things like this, then if we do need to warn the country at short notice, people will ignore the warnings, completely undermining the whole idea of this emergency communication system."
The alert flashed up on millions of phones and was accompanied by a loud siren noise which lasted for several seconds with a message stating: "There is a very high risk of wildfires nationally.
"Residents, landowners and visitors should not undertake any activity that could start a fire, including disposable barbecues, fire pits, garden incinerators or fireworks.
"Even a small flame can rapidly develop into a major wildfire placing lives, homes, businesses and emergency responders at risk."
Andy Burnham announced a temporary ban on disposable barbecues on Friday, and he later urged home cooks and gardeners to "take extra care” by not lighting any fires in gardens or other open spaces.
The nation has been gripped by five heatwaves over the course of one of the driest summers on record, in which temperatures surged to highs of 37C in some parts of southern England last week.
But in a brief respite, forecasters are expecting a spell of rain and cooler weather this week, but another heatwave could arrive as soon as September.
Forecasters say low pressure moving in from the Atlantic will bring wind, showers and longer spells of rain to many parts of the UK in the coming days.