‘There are bigger issues in the world today than global warming’
All were swing voters but critically none had extreme views in either direction on the subject that they were there to discuss: climate change.
The Times gathered this focus group in Watford — and another in the West Midlands — with the research firm Public First to replicate a project first carried out by The Times in 2021.
The question we wanted to answer was: Have the views of swing voters towards global warming and the government’s plans to tackle the issue changed in the intervening period.
Four years ago we found the public convinced of the need for action to tackle climate change, prepared to do their bit (up to a point) but worried about the cost. But what about now?
To begin it appeared not much had changed.
Katerina, 64, who works in the textile industry, said she was worried about her grandchildren and what would be left behind for them. “I very much try to be green,” she said. “I think what concerns me is not what’s going to happen in my lifetime, but I worry for my grandchildren and what’s going to be left for them.”
Dave, a logistics manager, said: “Climate change is much less of a priority for me than crime, the NHS and immigration because they impact me directly. But probably in the next generation, it’s going to have a massive impact on how they live.”
Shaber, who works in procurement, described himself as a bit of a “green fanatic” saying climate change was a “big issue” for him.
“When I travel to other countries, I think they’re about 20 years ahead of us in terms of renewable energy and recycling. So I think we’re quite behind.”
Beverley, 61, added: “This is our fourth heatwave this summer already, and we haven’t had any snow for a couple of years. The rain and the weather, things like that affect all the crops, which the farmers then can’t grow, so you’re not getting the food that you wanted. When it starts affecting people like that you can see a direct link.”
But then Khuram, 35, broke the consensus.
“I think there’s bigger issues right now going on in the world, in our own lives,” he said bluntly. “Maybe we look for our kids or grandkids or whatever, but I think really, if there’s people starving today, it’s probably worth spending money on that.”
He added: “There’s more going on in my daily life. If the weather’s good outside I think great, at least the weather’s good today.”
It was as if the dam of what was politically acceptable to say among strangers had burst.
“It’s not a top priority,” said Thomas, 40. “What annoys me with it is a bit like Covid, where the government said, this is what you’ve got to do and they sort of did their own thing.
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“So even with climate change, they’re happy to go on their private jets and get where they need to. It’s a little bit hypocritical.” Others agreed.
Beverley questioned whether the UK alone could make a difference. “I don’t think we do enough, but then places like India and China will ruin what the rest of the world does. How’s it going to work if one little country’s trying and then big massive countries aren’t?” she asked.
In the West Midlands it was Zeshaan, a 41-year-old mechanic, who broke the consensus of climate change concern.
“I don’t know if I’m convinced enough to think it’s happening at the scale at which we are told,” he said.
Then Laura, who works in admin, added: “I think we’ve all been turned into sceptics over the last few years because nobody believes in what we’re told.
“Our weather changes daily. Scorching today, it could be raining and cold tomorrow. That’s normal for England. I don’t truly believe it if I’m honest. If they can prove it to me, fine. But I don’t see any difference in the weather now from when I was a kid 50 years ago.”
Jason, 54, who works in an electrical wholesalers, put it this way: “I think we’ve got bigger fish to fry. The thing with climate control is, no matter which way you look at it, they’ll promise you the earth. They go to these summits and they say, we’ll get our emissions down, we’ll do this by this time and this by that time. They haven’t got a clue.
“They promised everybody they’d have an electric car within so many years. That’s never going to happen. It can never happen in America. America will never give up a petrol-driven engine. As long as China is building coal-powered fire stations at the rate of so many every month and the Americans are doing the same, it will never happen.
“Whatever we do, it’s a drop in the ocean. It won’t make a scrap of difference.”
This was a recurring theme when the groups were asked about specific policy proposals to reach the government’s net zero target. Anything that might cost money or curtailed freedoms was roundly dismissed.
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No one thought forcing households to install a heat pump instead of a gas boiler was a good idea except in new builds. Jeremy, 55, who works for an accounting firm, said: “I’ve just had a new boiler installed but all I heard was heat pumps are so expensive I didn’t even consider it.”
They also rejected the idea of increasing levies on gas bills.
Katerina said: “I think I pay more than enough … I live on my own and I’m only there in the evenings. But it’s extortionate what I’m paying at the moment. And I’m one person. I’m hardly using anything. I do not want to pay the utility companies any more money. Simple as that. So no, when it comes to fuel, don’t even go there. Don’t get me started.”
And what about a meat tax to reduce agricultural emissions? Again there was no support. As Jeremy put it: “I don’t want to be forced to pay higher prices because I want to eat a bit of meat.”
Even installing solar panels had limited support because of the upfront costs involved.
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Ed Shackle, a director at Public First who organised the focus groups, said while the public broadly remained supportive of climate action, “voters’ frustrations with the government and its failed promises undermine ambition”.
“Many voters simply cannot comprehend the government being able to fix such a big problem when they can’t fix the more tangible decline they see around them every day,” he said.
James Frayne, the former chairman of Public First, who ran the focus groups for The Times back in 2021, said previous support for net zero policies has been high because there was “a total political consensus around them for years and voters barely heard a sceptical argument from a senior politician”.
He added: “With Reform’s growth and the Tories’ new hostility, people are being introduced to critical lines for the first time — particularly on cost. This is bound to have an effect on support, particularly in an economic slowdown.”