CONSTITUENTS of Central Devon MP Mel Stride cycled 15 miles last Thursday morning (June 25) to present a letter calling on the MP to back a fair, green post-Covid recovery.

The letter signed by 60 of his constituents was delivered by a number of them, cycling from Moretonhampstead to the MP’s constituency office on the outskirts of Exeter.

The gesture was made on the day the Independent Committee on Climate Change called on government ministers to seize the opportunity to turn the Covid-19 crisis into a defining moment in the fight against climate change.

With Mr Stride in London and not able to receive the letter in person, they brought along a cardboard cutout of the MP.

They were also accompanied by a sculpture by artist Simon Ruscoe, intended to be part of the Extinction Rebellion protests in London last autumn, showing a man sinking beneath floods. One protester said it was ‘just passing through’ on its way to its final destination in a sculpture garden.

They told Mr Stride in the letter that now was the time to ‘look at our economy and society as a whole and ask ourselves what was not working, and who and what we cherish the most’.

‘In sending this letter, we are echoing the calls of thousands of individuals, communities and organisations who have joined the Build Back Better campaign in the last two months,’ the constituents wrote.

‘Choices being made right now will shape our society for years, if not decades, to come.

‘This is a time to be decisive in saving lives, and bold in charting a path to a genuinely healthier and more equitable future for all.

‘Our communities need to know that we will not only get through the pandemic but we will also learn from it — by seizing the opportunity to build our society back better.

‘We hope and expect the Government to initiate cross-party talks to agree on a Green New Deal programme aimed at decarbonising the economy.

‘Such a deal must be investment-led and should protect public services, tackle inequality in our communities, provide secure fairly paid jobs and, most importantly, attempt to create a shockproof economy that can fight the climate crisis.’

‘We need the recovery plans to provide for safe and sustainable travel available for everyone’, said group organiser Bee Denning, a singing teacher and one of the cyclists.

‘Electric bikes make distances easier but charging in Exeter is a problem.’

‘Recovering from coronavirus gives us a chance to create a much greener economy’ said Carey Scott of Moretonhampstead.

‘It’s time to put the health of people now and future generations first’

‘The Government’s slowness to act on coronavirus has led to tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. We need rapid action now to prevent millions of avoidable deaths from climate chaos’ added Bundy Riley, also from Moretonhampstead.

Mr Stride responded in a statement, saying: ‘Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world and there is absolutely an opportunity as we recover from the coronavirus pandemic to make green jobs and green technology a far more central part of our economic strategy and to make positive changes to the way we live our lives and run our businesses that are better for the environment.

‘Investment in green technology and green jobs is something the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, which I chair, has specifically pressed the Government on and we are also looking into green bonds as an approach to government debt financing.

‘The committee was also key to establishing Climate Assembly UK, bringing ordinary people together to discuss how the UK can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and I was pleased to remotely address the conference recently.’