More than 40 people watched the People's Emergency Briefing at Barnt Green Quaker Meeting House and signed a giant letter to Bromsgrove MP Bradley Thomas.

More than forty people came to Barnt Green Quaker Meeting House on Sunday 18 October to watch The People’s Emergency Briefing, the film on climate and nature risks that the meeting had been planning since September. Several of them then signed a giant letter to the Bromsgrove MP, Bradley Thomas, asking him to back a call for a live emergency briefing to the nation.

Barnt Green and Redditch Quakers, who organised the afternoon, say the audience included the Chairman of Barnt Green Parish Council, Robert Cholmondeley. Bradley Thomas, they say, did not respond to an invitation to attend. The MP for Redditch, Chris Bloore, has already been to a number of screenings in his own constituency, according to the Quakers.

Two people speak in front of a projected slide listing three actions: join the national conversation, host your own screening, contact your MP, with audience members in the foreground
The discussion after the film, under a slide setting out the three actions asked of the audience. Photo: supplied by Barnt Green and Redditch Quakers

What the discussion covered

The Quakers’ account of the afternoon describes “a lively discussion” after the film. In their notes for Bromsgrove News they wrote:

“It was noted that young people were under-represented in the audience. The screening was restricted to those aged over 16 and childcare was not provided at the venue. Nevertheless, concerns were raised about the problems our children and grandchildren will inherit.”

“There was general agreement that there are solutions to be found to the climate emergency but these are prevented by a lack of political will.”

The barriers people raised, the notes say, “focussed on existing economic structures and the lobbying power of big business. It was acknowledged that change will require co-ordinated action and that food production and eating habits will need to change.”

One person asked why the national media were not talking about the National Emergency Briefing. The Quakers point out that the Sunday Times mentioned it on the day of the Barnt Green screening, in an article by Madeleine Spence headlined “Don’t call us preppers, we’d rather prepare too much than be caught out”, which they say put the briefing’s audience at 200,000 people so far. They also cite a Guardian report of 8 October by its environment reporter, Pippa Neill, which said that “of the 13,000 people surveyed, 87% said watching the film made them more motivated to act”.

Audience seen from behind facing a screen reading Welcome, People's Emergency Briefing, Watch, Chat, Act, with a list of the aims of the day
The welcome slide, listing the aims of the afternoon: complete a survey, watch the film, talk about it and take action. Photo: supplied by Barnt Green and Redditch Quakers

The letter to Bradley Thomas

After the film, constituents signed a flip-chart-sized letter headed “Dear Bradley Thomas MP: An important letter from your constituents”. It reads:

“We have just watched the People’s Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis. We would like you to join your fellow cross-party MPs in calling on the government to hold a live emergency briefing to the nation, introduced by the Prime Minister, delivered by independent experts, and broadcast across TV, radio and social media.

This call does not prescribe specific policies or party positions. It is a request for clear evidence-based communication with the public, so that citizens understand the risks we now face from climate and nature breakdown.

You can join the Parliamentary Call at www.nebriefing.org/parliamentary-call.

If you have already joined, please bring this matter up in the House, write to the relevant Secretaries of State, and ask colleagues to join too.”

The call it refers to is on the National Emergency Briefing’s parliamentary call page.

A man in a navy jacket leans over to sign a large printed letter addressed to Bradley Thomas MP on an easelA man in a black T-shirt signs the letter on an easel beside a projected slide of shared expectations for the discussionThe full printed letter to Bradley Thomas MP on an easel, with the signatures and postcodes beneath it blurred

3 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Barnt Green and Redditch Quakers

What comes next

The Quakers note that Parliament is due to debate, on 16 November 2026, a petition launched by Chris Packham calling for a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature. They say they hope Bradley Thomas “will be present in the chamber for that event along with his fellow MPs to reassure the electorate that politicians are taking this existential crisis seriously”.

They also point to the government’s Be Ready campaign, which they say launched “without fanfare” on Thursday 22 October. In their notes they argue that remarks by Wes Streeting after a speech in Telford that day, describing wildfires and flooding as “everyday occurrences”, suggest the government “appears to want the public to accept these as the new normal”.

What it means for you

  • Want to see the film? The organisers’ slide asked people to join the national conversation at nebriefing.org/peb, host their own screening, or contact their MP.
  • Bromsgrove constituents can ask Bradley Thomas directly whether he will join the parliamentary call or attend the 16 November debate.
  • Missed the build-up? Our preview of the screening explains where the film comes from.

Photographs by Andrew Haycock, Chad Perkins and Caroline Milne for Barnt Green and Redditch Quakers.