On my guilty list are those who wrapped themselves in the net zero flag to sell their products but who now advertise how wasteful our drive to renewable power is. Telling the country it is wasting £ billions on curtailment payments may be accurate and true but it only gives ammunition to the climate sceptics. Thanks for this.

Another group on my list are those who advocate only one solution to home heating (based on a book written 16 years ago) regardless of the cost to install and use. They refuse to accept any criticism, cults operate this way, or compromise (after all that is a sign of weakness). In behaving this way, they simply alienate the vast majority of the electorate whose support for net zero is positive in principle but not in funding the policy. Refusing to listen, attacking those who fail to worship at their alter coupled with an arrogance that they know best fuels scepticism.

My third group are those who fail to accept that aspiration needs to be embraced not stamped on. Restrictions on flying, to support net zero, for those generations that have found affordable aviation opens doors for them is bound to backfire. Similarly, making motoring more difficult and costly; even criticising the desire to drive an SUV rather than a smaller car just puts voters off.

Is it a surprise that two political parties have now pledged to scrap net zero? Politicians seeking office will go where the voters are. This isn’t new or revolutionary but something ignored by those who should now be regretting their fundamentalist approach. I fear they won’t; I suspect they will double down and lay the blame elsewhere. But for those of us who want to address climate change, last week is further proof of how not to do it.