IT took a 15-year-old from Glasgow to put the five middle-aged men vying to become the next Prime Minister firmly in their place.

Climate striker Erin, who was picked from thousands of applicants to ask a question of the remaining candidates in the Tory leadership contest during last night’s BBC debate, urged them to make the environment their “top priority if elected”.

“Will you commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2025?” she asked.

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Last week, outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May signed her party up to target net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Host Emily Maitlis asked the five men to raise their hands if they would agree to Erin’s demands.

None of them did.

“I’m going to commit to putting the environment at the centre of my programme” said Boris Johnson.

Rory Stewart said he would like to make the UK the “leader in the world in driving green and environmental change”. But, he added, it has to be done in a way that’s “honest”.

Gove thanked the girl for her activism, though added that he wished the strikers hadn’t missed school.

Jeremy Hunt said “it was good of Erin to challenge us to be ambitious” but added that he would only commit himself to net zero by 2050 target

already in place.

Johnson was then asked if he would, as prime minister, stop Heathrow’s expansion.

The former foreign secretary, and frontrunner in the contest, had previously said he would lie down in front of bulldozers to stop the building of the third runway, but when the Commons came to make a decision, he was out of the country in Afghanistan.

“I continue to have grave reservations about the Heathrow runway three,” he hummed,

Pushed on it again, he said there were court cases now proceeding, and “as Prime Minister I will be following those very closely indeed.”

When Erin was asked which of the candidates had impressed her the most she replied: “Well, to be honest, none of you have really impressed me in the way that I’m looking for.

“Climate change isn’t an issue of tomorrow, it’s an issue of today and we need to take drastic critical action and I don’t think any of you are willing to offer that, so, thank you.”

Elsewhere in the debate, Sajid Javid caught his rivals on the hop when he bounced them in to backing an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Tory party.

Last month, the Muslim Council of Britain called on the UK’s human rights watchdog to probe the party, saying the “problem of Islamophobia” ran “deep” in the Tories.

“Do we all agree? Shall we all have an external investigation into Islamophobia?” he asked.

Stunned, the other four nodded their heads.

There was also agreement between all five that there would be an early general election.

Johnson, who in 2007 called Gordon Brown “arrogant” for not going to the country when he replaced Tony Blair, said it was a different situation now as whoever became the next prime minister would be taking over at a time of crisis.

Hunt said there could be no election until after Brexit, while Stewart said there could be no vote until the Tories had won back the trust of the people.

The contest continues today, with MPs voting again to whittle the field down. At least one of the five will be eliminated.