Burnham Urges Retailers to Stop Selling Disposable Barbecues
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has urged retailers to stop selling disposable barbecues, blaming them for igniting wildfires during the heatwave. The call follows this week’s emergency Cobra meeting on the fires and drought gripping England. Several retailers have already pulled the products, and ministers have not ruled out an outright ban.
Cheap, throwaway barbecues have long alarmed fire chiefs, who say they are frequently abandoned still hot on tinder-dry moorland and in parks, sparking blazes that stretch already overstretched crews. Pressing shops to drop them voluntarily lets the government be seen to act without the delay of legislation, though campaigners argue only a statutory ban would settle the matter. Some supermarkets and outdoor retailers had already withdrawn them in previous hot spells. The move is part of a broader response to a summer of record fires that has pushed climate resilience up the political agenda. Whether a voluntary appeal is enough will be tested by the next spark. Watch whether a formal ban follows.