Dan Tomlinson attended an environmental Q&A session hosted by Barnet Friends of the Earth and Incredible Edible in New Barnet last month reports Anna Mahtani

Dan Tomlinson MP with local climate activists at a Q&A event — Dan Tomlinson MP with local activists (Credit – Anna Mahtani)

Chipping Barnet’s MP championed “green growth” as he attended an event organised by local environmental activists last month.

Dan Tomlinson welcomed the conversation at the Q&A organised by Barnet Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Incredible Edible at a church in New Barnet on 24th January.

The event was chaired by Wendy Alcock, founder of Incredible Edible Barnet and member of Barnet FoE, who insisted on the importance of holding the government to account.

“We are here today because we think change is possible,” she said.

Wendy questioned parliament’s decision to delay the Nature and Climate Bill earlier that day.

The Private Members Bill bill, proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Dr Roz Savage, would require the UK to meet its climate and nature targets as well as creating an environmental assembly to advise the secretary of state.

Tomlinson defended Labour’s position: “If we hadn’t voted in the way that we did today, it would have just filtered out and died.”

While Labour intends to return to the bill, he argued that in its current state, the proposal could impose restrictions on new energy projects such as solar panel farms and wind turbines.

Dave McCormick, an organiser for the event, saw the evening as an opportunity to “bring together grassroots organisations to see how we can work stronger together for the environment and social justice to have a better world and a better Barnet.”

Dave added: “We need government action that is stronger and bolder on the environment. Right now there’s lots of talk about growth, but growth means many different things including growing of children, growing of community, growing of nature, not just economic growth.”

Tomlinson echoed his sentiment: “There’s no point in growth if we’re living on a dead planet. So green growth, helping industries, helping people go out and install heat pumps, that matters.”

He insisted on the need for environmental protection (including the new Nature Restoration Fund); for heightening green legislation for landlords; and for making electric vehicles and heat pumps more accessible.

Before leaving, Tomlinson encouraged passionate locals to reach out to MPs, to keep emailing him and hold him to his environmental promises, and even to consider a role in politics. “The local election is coming in May 2026. You could stand and become a local councillor. Food for thought.”

From foodbanks to faith groups to community gardens, the event was attended by volunteers from the whole borough, including: Chipping Barnet Food Bank, Barnet Green Spaces groups, Community Garden groups, Barnet Multi Faith Forum, Clean Up River Brent (CURB), Barnet Green Christians, Barnet Beekeepers, Age UK Barnet, Barnet U3A, Clean Air Barnet and Middlesex University.

The event was hosted in a church hall that had been rented out in exchange for foodbank donations.

With tea, biscuits, and time for networking before and after, the evening brought local groups together and put political action at the forefront.

“Often, when you’re down in Westminster, politics can feel quite removed from the situation on the ground,” said Tomlinson at the end of the event.

He added: “That’s why I love being out and about in the constituency, meeting individuals, meeting community groups, so that I can take that with me down to Westminster in the debates and the conversations that I’m having with them.”

“One of the most fantastic things about representing this constituency is the strength of our community and the organisations that exist in Chipping Barnet that are doing so much for our place, for the people in it and for the planet.”

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