A constituent of Shipley MP Philip Davies has been left “appalled by his attitude” after what she described as a dismissive response to her email about whether he planned to act on climate change.

Tina Skayman, from Cullingworth, is part of the campaign group, 38 Degrees, which has created a widely-signed petition lobbying the UK government to take ambitious action on what she calls a climate crisis.

The 63-year-old therefore wrote to her MP on Monday evening, asking him to vote in Parliament on Wednesday to declare a climate emergency.

Mr Davies responded promptly to the email, telling Ms Skayman that eliminating carbon emissions in the UK would make no difference to global temperatures, unless China, India and the USA also did so.

He said eliminating carbon emissions would instead damage the economy and make energy bills more unaffordable for the poor.

He said doing so “might make many middle class people feel better about themselves” but he insisted it would be more effective to spend money on adapting to changes in the world’s climate.

Ms Skayman called his reply “condescending and supercilious”.

She also claimed that rich or poor will not be around to worry about paying bills if global warming is not kept under control.

Ms Skayman said she was disgusted by his tone regarding the “middle classes” comment, feeling that it was a dig at people like her, who are simply trying to lobby those in a position of influence to save the planet.

She said we have to think about our children, grand children and the generations beyond them.

Contacted for comment by the Telegraph & Argus, Mr Davies responded: “Naturally I am sorry that Ms Skayman is unhappy with me setting out my honest opinion on this issue.

“People always say they want politicians who give honest answers but there are some, who are so intolerant of anyone who happens to hold a different opinion to them, that don’t want to hear a contrary view.

“There is no painless panacea when it comes to dealing with climate change.

“Those who want to see zero carbon emissions earlier than 2050 need to be honest with people about how painful that will be for them, and how it will push up costs for people who can least afford it. It is obvious that such action will be futile with regards to global temperatures while the biggest producers of carbon emissions – China, US and India – don’t take the same action as us.

“I am sorry that stating an inconvenient truth has caused Ms Skayman such upset, but it is my duty to be honest with my constituents about those inconvenient truths.

“It is not to tell them simply what they want to hear as far too many politicians tend to do.”