Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on net zero “closely” matches a series of demands made by Conservative MPs in the wake of the Uxbridge and Ruislip by-election, Tortoise has learned.
The prime minister yesterday announced he was watering down a series of climate change goals, including postponing the ban on petrol and diesel cars to 2035, delaying the ban on new fossil fuel boilers and dropping plans for passenger taxes on flights.
He emphasised that this meant the UK would be aligned with countries including Germany, France, Australia, Sweden and US states including California and New York.
Sunak had been forced to call an emergency Cabinet to sign off his new plan, and brought forward a speech to Wednesday afternoon, after the policy shift was leaked to the BBC.
But the prime minister’s change of heart was first signalled on 29 July, when he used an interview with the Sunday Telegraph to tell the drivers he was “on their side”, as he unveiled a review of low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).
That was two days after Sunak was sent a letter from backbenchers, coordinated by Net Zero Scrutiny Group chairman Craig MacKinlay, urging a “re-think” on net zero.
Citing a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) commissioned by the Fair Fuel APPG – the funding for which remains unclear – and a poll in the Daily Mail, the letter warned that maintaining the 2030 date for banning petrol and diesel cars would “do grave harm to the economy” and risked undermining Sunak’s pledge to take a proportionate and pragmatic approach to net zero.
The letter goes on to highlight the Ulez-led result in Uxbridge a week earlier as a sign that “various enforced net zero targets are deeply unpopular”.
“The time is right for a rethink,” the letter concludes. “A move to 2035 to match competitor countries such as the EU bloc and the USA would seem entirely sensible.”
One signatory to the letter told Tortoise: “We felt back then that the PM was at a tipping point.” The MP noted that MacKinlay had “done well with pressure on this”.
MacKinlay told Tortoise: “[The letter’s] observations closely match yesterday’s announcement. I heard nothing more but regularly speak with energy ministers. I had no knowledge of what was to unfold this week.”
A No10 source said: “This decision was taken in the interests of working families who were being forced to take on massive financial burdens of tens of thousands of pounds that other countries simply aren’t, when Britain is well ahead and will meet Net Zero anyway. This is a long held view of the Prime Minister.”
The move appears to have divided the Conservative party at a tricky time for Sunak, with former PM Boris Johnson and former Cop26 president Alok Sharma both criticising the move.
Chris Skidmore, Sunak’s one-time net zero tzar, did not rule out sending in a letter of no confidence.
A fellow backbencher told Tortoise it could be the start of something more coordinated, saying colleagues “don’t want him really and are starting to work out how to change that. The timeline [for letters] just feels like November, as that is where people start thinking ‘do we have confidence he can win an election for us?’.”
Another Conservative source pointed to former minister Simon Clarke’s criticism as “the most interesting intervention so far”. He added: “Makes me think there’d be the basis for a rebellion of 35-plus – enough to wipe out [Sunak’s] majority.”
However others said, despite their personal reservations, the move had gone down well among members.
“They just wish that Suella had delivered the speech, not Rishi,” said one. “The party members utterly hate him… I think No 10 has got carried away after Uxbridge and think this works. Not sure they’ve got any more strategy than that.”
