A Tory peer has condemned the “liars” who play down the severity of climate change.
Lord Deben’s comments came as the Met Office warned 40 degree summers will be the norm by 2060.
And they follow Rishi Sunak hinting the government could row back on some of its net zero commitments amid fears of a voter backlash.
Appearing on Sky News this morning, Lord Deben - who was a cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major - said: “There are several people around who frankly are telling lies about it - they don’t want to face this.
“There are three newspapers which every day pretend that we don’t have to fight climate change.
“There are individuals whose voices are being magnified instead of the sensible statement which is simply this - the science tells us it’s getting worse and worse, there is one way to fight it, which is to get down to net zero.
″The quicker we do it, the quicker it is and the more effective it is. The longer we take, the worse it will get. That is the fact and there is no way you can gainsay that so we have to say it again and again.”
The newspapers he referred to are believed to be the Tory-backing Daily Mail, Daily Express and Daily Telegraph.
The peer’s remarks put him at odds with his Tory collleague Lord Frost, who earlier this week said climate change could be “beneficial” to the UK.
Meanwhile, the Met Office said the record-breaking 2022 heatwave in the UK will be seen as cool by the end of the century.
Summer temperatures like 12 months ago - when it hit 40 degrees celsius for the first time - will be the norm by 2060.