RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Why the Net Zero nut jobs want to make us hotter and poorer

Published: 01:00, 26 June 2026 | Updated: 01:00, 26 June 2026 On what we are informed officially was the hottest day in Britain since records began in 1066, council jobsworths have been ordering homeowners to rip out air conditioning to – wait for it – combat global warming. As the mercury rises to 40C (that’s 104F in old money) and the Met Office issued a red ‘risk to life’ warning, planning officers were worrying that aircon units pump out too much carbon dioxide. Air-conditioning engineers across London say they have been called in to remove units costing thousands of pounds because of climate change regulations. Inspectors working for Camden Council told residents to open windows and balcony doors instead. They said there was ‘no justification’ for A/C and demanded they must ventilate their homes by ‘natural means’. Protests by homeowners that open windows and doors would leave them vulnerable to burglars were brushed aside. Far-Left Camden Council ‘actively discourages’ air conditioning because it increases energy usage and makes the ‘local micro-climate hotter’. One resident was ordered to tear out three units after inspectors noted a lack of ceiling fans in the property. The neighbouring Loony-Left North London Borough of Islington is equally tough. While there is no law banning A/C outright, the council insists on ‘passive cooling’ measures such as shading windows, whatever that means. All this is in line with London Mayor Genghis Khan’s climate plan which specifies that air-conditioning systems should be avoided as much as possible. Ed Miliband’s deranged Net Zero crusade lies behind this madness – but building regulations which make this possible were passed by the Conservatives, writes Richard Littlejohn Naturally, power-crazed Town Hall jobsworths have interpreted this as a green light to ban A/C altogether. As I constantly remind you, when you give someone any modicum of authority – especially if it comes with a fancy title and a hi-viz jacket – they will always, always abuse it. While Ed Miliband’s deranged Net Zero crusade lies behind this madness, it is worth noting that the building regulations which make this possible were passed by the Conservatives in 2021, under then housing secretary Robert Jenrick who has now defected to Reform, which hates red tape and State interference – particularly in relation to climate change. So presumably Jenrick now opposes the law he introduced. None of this can be considered ‘joined up’ thinking. At the same time as councils are telling residents to throw open their doors and windows, whatever Public Health England calls itself this week is advising us to draw the curtains and put tinfoil on the windows to deflect the heat. And while A/C units are effectively being banned for using too much electricity, laws are being passed to force us to scrap our gas boilers and install inefficient heat pumps which also use electricity. Meanwhile, schools and other public buildings are closing during the heatwave because they don’t have air conditioning. Go figure, as our American cousins would say. The problem is compounded by the very same building regulations which compel new-build homes to have thicker insulation and smaller windows. Yet, as the Guardian’s front page and all the climate alarmists insist: The Day The Earth Caught Fire is now ‘The New Normal’. In which case, if 96 degrees in the shade is what we can expect on a regular basis in future, we should be fitting more air conditioning units – not ripping them out. Otherwise, every time The Sun Has Got His Hat On, the country is going into meltdown more frequently, just as it has this week. As for A/C units eating up too much energy, if it wasn’t for Miliband’s Net Zero lunacy there’d be more than enough cheap electricity to go round. Of course, the climate cultists won’t accept any of these contradictions, or let the facts get in the way of their crusade to make us colder and poorer. Or, as this week’s heatwave has demonstrated, hotter and poorer. Like the weather, they’re all huddled together under their own ‘heat dome’. The oft-repeated and uncontested fact that Britain produces only around 1 per cent of global emissions hasn’t stopped the suicidal rush to Net Zero. When it comes to air-conditioning units pumping out ‘harmful’ carbon dioxide gases, the figure is even more minuscule. Only 3 per cent of homes in Britain have A/C. That amounts to about as much damage to the ozone layer as a flatulent Aberdeen Angus on a high-fibre diet. That won’t stop them. Net Zero is less about saving the polar bears, more another excuse to enforce the punishment culture, whether persecuting homeowners with A/C or stepping up the war on motorists. In another development, it was claimed that motorists are being told to turn off their aircon when their vehicles are stationary. I assumed this was a wind-up until I read a report that under an obscure emissions law, drivers can be fined up to £110 for using their A/C in traffic jams. Think it couldn’t happen? In Islington – where else? – it already is. Enforcement officers are handing out fixed penalties to motorists who refuse to switch off their engines in stifling heat. But why are they stuck in traffic in the first place? In Islington, and just about everywhere else in our cities these days, gridlock and pollution is being deliberately created by councils because of their obsession with LTNs, 20mph speed limits and empty bike lanes. What was I saying about ‘joined up’ thinking? It’s this warped mindset which leads to jobsworths ordering homeowners to rip out A/C units on what the climate hysterics insist is the hottest day in history. Here’s another one of those crazy stories I don’t know whether to file under Makes You Proud To Be British or You Couldn’t Make It Up. The former Smiths frontman Morrissey may be a massive supporter of Brexit, but Andy Burnham says he’s still a fan of the Manchester-based band. That explains a lot. Heaven knows we’re all miserable now. With the Ajax armoured personnel carrier fleet still on hold, how long before the Army has to borrow Corporal Jones’s butcher’s van?  The defence spending shortfall must be worse than we thought. Soldiers are being encouraged to take up clay pigeon shooting to practise bringing down Russian drones. That should have Putin shaking in his Gucci loafers. Until they developed their own drone programme, Ukranian troops managed to down a few Russian drones with shotguns. But even so. This is desperate, Dad’s Army stuff. With the Ajax armoured personnel carrier fleet still on hold after dozens of soldiers suffered illness caused by noise and vibrations, how long before the Army has to borrow Corporal Jones’s butcher’s van? Kemi Badenoch may have eviscerated Labour’s front-bench turncoats brilliantly, but sadly no one outside the Bubble is listening. The country’s attention is concentrated on the heatwave and the World Cup. Oblivious, the political class are navel gazing again with a gaggle of Labour non-entities jockeying for jobs – even though I doubt one person in 100 could pick any of them out of a police line-up. The difference between those snaps of the 1976 heatwave and now? Back then there were no fat people and no one with hideous tattoos.  The comments below have been moderated in advance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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