Plans to ban sales of petrol cars by 2030 and new gas boilers by 2035 are both expected to be watered down
Rishi Sunak is poised to announce a major rowing back on several green policies, including pushing back plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars – in a step that threatens to provoke a row with environmentalist Tories. The Prime Minister suggested that the country had been misled by politicians “in governments of all stripes” who had suggested “we can have it all” on climate issues. He is understood to be considering ripping up the pledge made by Boris Johnson in 2020 to ban new petrol cars within a decade, pushing the target date from 2030 to 2035. Mr Sunak is also likely to water down Mr Johnson’s promise to ban new gas boilers by 2035, aiming instead to cut the number of installations by 80 per cent by that date instead. The plans are set to be set out in a major speech later this week, in which Mr Sunak will trumpet the UK’s commitment to tackling climate change, but will insist that the UK has done its fair share in leading the charge.
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Ever since the Uxbridge by-election which the Tories only just managed to hold onto, apparently because of the anti-ULEZ crowd, Sunak has been dumping environment regulations and policies left, right, and centre. He has framed this as sparing the British public the costs of climate change at a time when the cost of living is so high. This is pushing the can down the road when later generations will have to pay even more for climate adaptations. At the same time landlords need no longer meet stricter energy efficiency standards which will drive up the energy costs of tenants.