A NINE-YEAR-OLD Oxfordshire girl has written a letter to the Government urging decision maker to pay more attention to issues that will impact her generation in the future, instead of focusing solely on Brexit.

Romilly West, who lives near Deddington, decided to write to the Environment Secretary Michael Gove after listening to the news on the radio on her way home from school.

She was shocked to find out that every radio station she listened to was covering Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership contest, while none were informing listeners about the climate crisis.

At home she wrote a letter addressed to Mr Gove, and asked her parents to post it on her behalf.

Romilly told the Oxford Mail that she did not remember the exact wording of the letter, but it expressed her ‘anger and disappointment’ with the current political agenda.

She said: “200 species die every day. I wonder if that might interest someone, because we don’t have a second planet.”

And she added a heartbreaking, personal reason: “I want to have a chance of seeing my century party, but at the current rate of climate change I can’t expect to live more than 60 or 70 years.”

When asked why she’s decided to act in this way, Romilly said: “Someone has to do something. We all think that someone else will act, and in effect nothing happens.”

Apart from writing letters to the Government, the schoolgirl carries out a host of activities to help the environment.

Not only she is careful when it comes to her choice of clothing and toys (second-hand books are her preferred presents) but she also voluntarily attends an ecological course at school.

Romilly has also abandoned using Google, in favor of an ecologically friendly search engine called Ecosia.

She explained: “You get the same results, but Ecosia is planting trees for searches. I search pointless stuff just to plant trees”.

Romilly’s mother, Jean, says both her daughters are very ecologically aware, despite their young age, and press her and her husband to make better consumer choices.

The family has largely abandoned meat and grow their own fruit and vegetables, but the girls are in a ‘constant search of new ways to help the planet and their future’.

As an example, Mrs West recalls her daughters' demand that the family visited Waitrose in Oxford and shopped there because the store has largely abandoned plastic and encourages its clients to use reusable packaging.

Mrs West said it's 'incredibly sad and incredibly frustrating’ to learn how concerned her daughters are about their future.

“Everyone’s been ignoring it for so long," she said. "As a consumer your options are limited, you don’t really have a choice.

"I’d love to have an electric car, but they’re expensive, unaffordable. And you must live, eat, drive them to school.”

Romilly West joins the fast-growing ranks of a young, environmentally-aware generation which raises ecological issues above the political agenda presented by previous generations, who still dominate the halls of power.

Best known is 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who used social media to launch a school strike followed by 1.5 million children in 112 countries.

Romilly knows perfectly who Thunberg is, but at the same time can name only three politicians from the British political scene, namely PM Theresa May and Michael Gove. She also had a faint idea that Boris Johnson exists, but needed her mother’s help to recall his name.

When asked about Brexit, Romilly said it is ‘pointless and boring’.

With a smile she added, that she’s worried that Brexit will make it difficult to import haloumi cheese, which is her favourite food, and the British-produced version ‘tastes odd’.

“Would you agree to eat British-made halloumi cheese, so it won’t be transported?", asked her mother.

“I think so, yes”, Romilly answered without hesitation.