Reform says we need to choose between climate and economy. It's wrong | Larry Elliott

So now we know: the smart response to the UK’s summer of record temperatures is to do precisely nothing. According to Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, the climate crisis is just one of those things. Nothing can be done about it, so we should simply bask in the sunshine.

It is reasonable to assume Tice would not have said anything quite as crass had he been addressing people in Stourbridge who have seen their homes burn to the ground. Or the farmers whose crops shrivel in parched fields. Or the firefighters exhausted from battling wildfires across Britain.

Yet Tice clearly thinks he is on to something. The cost of living crisis has put the government’s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 under the spotlight. The assumption underlying Tice’s comments is that there is a trade-off between tackling the climate emergency and raising, or even maintaining, living standards – and that for the time being, the latter should take priority.

The government has certainly been acting as if it believes this is the case. While the drought affecting most of England and Wales makes the strongest possible case for hastening the green transition, Andy Burnham’s focus has been on reducing prices for consumers, including by cutting VAT on electricity bills. It took the prime minister an awfully long time to use the words “climate change” to explain this summer’s heatwaves.

He did so only after the devastating fires in Stourbridge and when prodded by a letter from green groups calling on him to end his silence. At one level, the emphasis on putting cash in people’s pockets makes sense. Traditionally, interest in the environment waxes during periods of strong economic growth and wanes when times are tough.

Climate breakdown slips down the list of priorities for voters when they are worried about losing their jobs or struggling to pay their bills. Peaks in concern have tended to come at the end of long booms, such as the early 1970s or the late 1980s. But opinions are changing across the political spectrum.