‘It’s an insult’: drivers react to Rishi Sunak’s electric car U-turn

Sunak’s move was described as ‘a desperate last throw of the dice to create division around net zero’. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he will delay banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years to 2035 in a U-turn on the government’s climate commitments has triggered international condemnation and anger from industry.

The policy shift came on Wednesday, as the prime minister stated that there would also be a slowdown in the phasing out of gas boilers and that the requirement for landlords to make their properties energy efficient would be scrapped.