Thame Head tells climate striking pupils ‘There is no more important issue to be energised by’

A GROUP of students from Lord Williams’s school in Thame, joined hundreds of other school children in Oxford, and 15,000 children from around the country, in today’s Youth Strke for Climate – and in an open letter to MP John Howell, have criticised the government for its ‘lack of action’ over climate change.

Alfie Richards, Senior Student at Lord Williams’s school, who attended today’s mass demonstration with Head Boy, Max Spokes and other fellow students, told Thame.net: “I and my fellow students decided to strike out of the desperation for the state of global warming. We see political cycle after political cycle never giving environmental issues the sincerity they require. We want to join this international movement to show how important this issue is to our generation.”

‘There isn’t a more important issue to be energised by’

David Wybron, Headteacher at Lord Williams’s school, writing in a letter to parents and carers, said: “Whilst not authorising their (the students’) participation in a day of action, I did say to them that I thought it was important for young people to protest and be angry about what generations of politicians have been doing, or not doing, in terms of dealing with climate change. There isn’t a more important issue to be energised by.”

On a more cautionary note however, he continued: “They have written a very powerful letter to John Howell MP. In the future, I would hope that any student actions are more about making a more obvious sacrifice in terms of raising awareness. They are taking part in an international event, not of their organising. I would hope that if protests take place on such an important issue, they will be in different ways and during half-term or on a Saturday perhaps. I am not aware of any other planned actions and do not expect other students to protest and miss school. The last time student action took place over university grants, six years ago, there were far too many students who took the day off and were not really aware of the reasons for doing so. That is an unprincipled thing to do.”

Max and Alfie’s open letter to John Howell MP, reads:

Dear John Howell MP,
“We, as individuals as well as a group of Sixth Form students, have written to you several times in the past, voicing our concerns at the lack of action and emphasis that our government has shown towards the greatest threat to our future: anthropogenic climate change.

“The government’s inability to treat this issue with the sincerity it deserves has resulted in our joining the Youth Strike 4 Climate, which is taking place across the country on Friday the 15th of February. As our representative in Parliament, we ask for your explicit support in undertaking this action, and for you to raise this issue of such overwhelming importance in Parliament, thus showing genuine concern for the future of our generation which, without action now will struggle to live with the consequences of anything above a 2 degrees rise in average global temperatures.

“A UNICEF report this month found that a child in the UK is admitted to hospital as a result of breathing harmful air every 20 minutes, and in 86% of the UK, levels of nitrogen dioxide are above legal limits set by this government; Friends of the Earth estimates this costs the UK health services and businesses more than £20bn every year. Yet our government continues to support the fossil fuel industry with over £10bn a year, whilst spending only £7bn on renewable energy. Inevitably you will counter our claims by responding that this government is on track to reduce carbon emissions from the energy sector by 80% by 2050, relative to 1990 levels. However, the UN IPCC report in 2018 warned that we have 12 years to take serious mitigation measures to protect our climate, therefore, this government’s lack of action now will mean that by 2050, the effects of climate change will be too far gone to reverse.

“In a recent email, you wrote that: “The manifesto on which I and all Conservative MPs were elected last year also promised that we should be the ‘first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it in.’ Why then, might we ask, have emissions from agriculture and waste increased since 1990, and why have transport contributions fallen by just 2 percent since 1990? Your party has been in government for nine years now, the time for delay is over.

“Rather than promote renewable energy schemes, this government has cut solar panel grants by 65% and at the end of last year, announced a possible end to these grants from next month. This environmental indifference by the government resulted in a 56 percent fall in renewable energy investment in 2017.

“Rather than leaving our generation in a better place, the UK government has demonstrated an utter lack of impetus, energy or enthusiasm in tackling the greatest threat to our planet’s future.

“This short-sightedness cannot continue; we urge you to consider and act upon this letter.”

Yours sincerely,
Max Spokes (Head Boy), Alfie Richards (Senior Student)
Lord Williams’s School, Thame