Rishi Sunak is poised to announce the watering down of climate change commitments despite a backlash from industry and the prospect of a damaging rift in the Tory party.
The Prime Minister will deliver a speech in Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon setting out a “proportionate” approach to cutting emissions.
He held a hastily arranged call with Cabinet ministers on Wednesday morning after speculation about his net-zero plans emerged on Tuesday night.
A speech had been due to take place later this week but the leak to the BBC about the plans appears to have persuaded Downing Street to bring the announcement forward.
Measures being considered include weakening the plan to phase out gas boilers from 2035 and delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars – currently due in 2030 – by five years, the BBC reported.
In a statement, Mr Sunak said his plans would not be derailed by a “leak”, claiming politicians “of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade-offs” associated with net zero.
He accused previous Tory governments of taking “the easy way out, saying we can have it all”.
Our business needs three things from the UK Government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three— Lisa Brankin, Ford
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, a key figure on the Conservative right, backed the Prime Minister for making “difficult decisions” on net zero and putting “household costs first”.
“We’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people,” she told Times Radio.
But former prime minister Boris Johnson said “business must have certainty about our Net Zero commitments” and “we cannot afford to falter now or in any way lose our ambition for this country”.
The potential policy also alarmed the car industry, which has invested on the basis of a 2030 shift away from petrol and diesel.
From a business perspective, companies wanting to invest in the UK need long-term certainty to create the jobs and economic prosperity the country needs— Chris Norbury, E.on
Ford UK chairwoman Lisa Brankin said: “Our business needs three things from the UK Government: ambition, commitment and consistency.
“A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three.”
The erupting business backlash may have forced Mr Sunak to announce the plans sooner than he intended as he faced criticism for disrupting the certainty needed for firms to invest in Britain.
Chris Norbury, the chief executive of the E.on energy firm, said the move would be a “mis-step on many levels” as he hit out at the “false argument” that green policies can only come at a cost, arguing they deliver affordable energy while boosting jobs.
“From a business perspective, companies wanting to invest in the UK need long-term certainty to create the jobs and economic prosperity the country needs,” he said.
“Equally, in our homes and communities we risk condemning people to many more years of living in cold and draughty homes that are expensive to heat, in cities clogged with dirty air from fossil fuels, missing out on the economic regeneration this ambition brings.”
There was dismay in the environmental wing of the Tory party but delight among those who had campaigned against the policies for fear the price of going green will cost the party votes.
Sir Alok Sharma, who was the president of the Cop26 climate summit, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think it’d be incredibly damaging for business confidence, for inward investment, if the political consensus that we have forged in our country on the environment and climate action is fractured.
“And, frankly, I really do not believe that it’s going to help any political party electorally which chooses to go down this path.”
Sir Alok said delays on policies such as banning new petrol and diesel cars could mean tougher curbs in other areas.
Prominent Tory environmentalist Lord Goldsmith said: “Putting aside the ethics or even merits surrounding the issue, it is difficult to exaggerate the political stupidity of this economically and ecologically illiterate decision by the PM.”
But Craig Mackinlay, leader of the Tory Net Zero Scrutiny Group which has been sceptical of the Government’s policies, said the expected announcements by Mr Sunak are “sensible and pragmatic”.
“I hope to mark this down as a sensible win for consumers,” he said, claiming his group’s “research and representations” may have influenced the move.
Tory Karl McCartney, a member of the Commons Transport Select Committee, said he had pushed the Government to delay the ban on new petrol and diesel cars, bringing it in line with the European Union, which has moved the date to 2035.
“The only people who will complain about this delay are the central London eco-zealots who do not live in the real world and are rich enough not to be affected,” he said.
The New Conservatives group, which includes members elected since the Brexit referendum, welcomed the Prime Minister’s plans as a “common-sense approach”.
The Prime Minister could reportedly also axe proposals for new energy-efficiency targets for private rented homes.
The party’s success in the summer’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, won largely through a campaign against the expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), has bolstered Tory calls to shun unpopular green policies.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The British people are trying to do the right things for our planet, even as they are struggling to make ends meet. But they have been let down over and over again by this out-of-touch Conservative Government.”
Shadow net zero secretary Ed Miliband said: “This is a complete farce from a Tory Government that literally does not know what they are doing day to day.”
