PM makes ‘screeching U-turn’ on attending COP27 – and all his campaign pledges are under review
Rishi Sunak has reversed his decision to skip the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next week – and all his campaign pledges are now under review.
Bowing to pressure from environmental campaigners and MPs today, the prime minister said he would attend COP27 as there is “no long-term prosperity without action on climate change, there is no energy security without investing in renewables”.
Hours later, his official spokeswoman then said the pledges the PM made during the summer leadership contest are under review as they were made a few months ago, when the context was “somewhat different”.
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Secretaries of state are to be consulted on the specifics of their departments.
There was no endpoint for the review, the spokeswoman said.
The admission from Downing Street is likely to fuel fresh calls for a general election, which opposition parties have been demanding since the collapse of Boris Johnson’s government in July.
Mr Sunak initially said he was not going to head to the COP27 conference in Sharm El-Sheikh due to “other pressing domestic commitments”.
But the PM faced a raft of criticism, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accusing him of displaying a “failure of leadership” and Greenpeace UK saying he was not taking climate change “seriously enough”.
Within days, Downing Street changed course, saying the PM’s attendance was “under review”, depending on progress around preparation for the economic statement, set for 17 November.
Mr Sunak announced his attendance the morning after former prime minister Mr Johnson told Sky News he would be going.
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Johnson: ‘I am going to COP27’
More U-turns?
On the potential for further U-turns by reviewing the PM’s campaign pledges, his spokeswoman said: “We are looking at all the campaign pledges and we are looking at whether it is the right time to take them forward.
“We need to take some time to make sure what is deliverable and what is possible, and engaging with stakeholders and with the relevant secretaries of state as well.
“Obviously, those are pledges that were made a few months ago now and the context is somewhat different, obviously, economically.
“We need to look again.”
Mr Sunak has already dropped his plan to fine patients £10 for missing GP appointments.
Downing Street said the PM had listened to GPs and NHS leaders “and agreed now is not the time to take this policy forward”.
This morning, Transport Secretary Mark Harper also cast doubt on the high-speed rail link connecting Manchester and Leeds, saying the government is looking at “all the options” ahead of expected spending cuts in the autumn statement later this month.
‘Embarrassing misstep on the world stage’
Opposition parties were quick to mock the “screeching U-turn” over COP27 and claimed the PM is only going because he has been “shamed” into doing so.
Sir Keir has accused Mr Sunak of acting “in the name of political management” rather than the national interest, adding: “Caving in to criticism is not leadership.”
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, said: “The prime minister has been shamed into going to COP27 by the torrent of disbelief that he would fail to turn up.
“He is going to avoid embarrassment, not to provide leadership.”
The Liberal Democrat’s climate change spokeswoman, Wera Hobhouse, claimed the environment is “simply not a priority” for Mr Sunak’s new government and that he is “only going after being embarrassed by Boris Johnson’s attendance”.
And Caroline Lucas, the Green Party’s only MP, said: “Glad to see Sunak’s screeching U-turn on COP27, but what an embarrassing misstep on the world stage.
“Let this be a lesson to him – climate leadership matters.
“Now he urgently needs to increase UK ambition on emission reduction targets & pay what we owe to global climate funds.”
On Friday, and in the face of growing pressure, Mr Sunak defended his decision not to go to COP27, saying he wanted to focus on the UK’s “depressing” economic challenges.
A No 10 source told Sky News Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have made “good progress” on the autumn statement after working on it over the weekend and this week.
The summit will run from 6-18 November, but the key day for world leaders is Monday, when high-level talks are scheduled, and US President Joe Biden is expected to attend.
Conservative MP Alok Sharma, the president of COP26, said he is “delighted” by the news, after previously saying he was “disappointed” the PM had decided not to go.
Chris Skidmore, who is chairing the government’s review into Net Zero, tweeted: “Extremely good news Rishi Sunak will continue to champion the UK’s climate leadership and COP26 legacy with Alok Sharma.
“Looking forward to also attending COP27 to highlight how the Net Zero Review is an opportunity to better deliver greater prosperity and economic growth.”
The UK chaired the previous climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow last year.
World leaders made a series of climate pledges, culminating in an agreement to strengthen emissions-cutting targets for 2030 by the end of next year.
Ending and reversing deforestation, cutting methane emissions and the journey to net zero were all agreed to at the crucial Glasgow climate summit last year which lasted for two weeks.
Thousands of troops are taking part in a joint military exercise between Russia and Belarus, as tensions with the EU run high following a Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace earlier this week.
The Zapad joint military exercise which began on Friday will involve drills in both Russia and Belarus as well as in the Baltic and Barents seas, the Russian defence ministry said.
Belarusian defence officials initially said about 13,000 troops would participate in the drill, but in May, its defence ministry said that would be cut nearly in half.
It comes just two days after Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down Russian drones over its airspace.
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Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday morning hit back at a suggestion by US President Donald Trump on Thursday that the incursion may have been a “mistake”.
He said in a post on X: “We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it.”
Russia said its forces had been attacking Ukraine at the time of the incursions and that it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland.
Friday also saw Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper travelling to Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on the same day the UK announced fresh sanctions against Moscow.
Prince Harry was also in Kyiv for a surprise visit to help with the recovery of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war with Russia.
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Prince Harry arrives in Kyiv
Ms Cooper, who was appointed foreign secretary last week, posted about her visit on X saying: “The UK’s support for Ukraine is steadfast. I am pleased to be in Kyiv on my first visit as Foreign Secretary.”
The UK’s new sanctions include bans on 70 vessels that Britain says are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that transports Russian oil in defiance of sanctions already in place.
Yvette Cooper with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Pic: Valentyn Ogirenko/PA
Some 30 individuals and companies – including Chinese and Turkey-based firms – have also been sanctioned for their part in supplying Russia with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.
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Meanwhile on the frontline, Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s oil-loading Primorsk port overnight, an SBU official said.
The attack caused fires and suspended oil-loading operations, the official added.
Russian defence systems also intercepted and destroyed 221 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a spokesperson for the royal has said.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, visited the city at the invitation of the Ukrainian government.
The Duke of Sussex travelled to the capital to help with the recovery of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war with Russia.
Pic: Railway of Ukraine Ukrzaliznytsia/AP
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will also be travelling to Kyiv on Friday in what will be her first foreign trip since being appointed to the job last week.
Her visit coincides with the UK launching a new package of Russia-related sanctions targeting ships carrying Russian oil as well as companies and individuals supplying electronics, chemicals and explosives used to make Russian weapons.
It comes as Russia and Belarus began a major joint military exercise on on NATO’s doorstep on Friday, just two days after Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down suspected Russian drones over its airspace.
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Drones shot down in Poland
The Zapad-2025 exercise – a show of force by Russia and its close ally – will involve drills in both countries and in the Baltic and Barents seas, the Russian defence ministry said.
Meanwhile on the frontline, Russian defence systems intercepted and destroyed 221 Ukrainian drones overnight,
including nine over the Moscow region, the ministry said on Friday.
The duke told the Guardian while on an overnight train to Kyiv: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.
“We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through.
“We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”
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Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, previously travelled to Ukraine in April, when he visited war victims as part of his work with wounded veterans.
The prince visited the Superhumans Center, an orthopaedic clinic in Lviv that treats and rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians.
Earlier this week, Harry said the King is “great” after he reunited with him at Clarence House for a private tea.
It was their first meeting in 19 months and lasted just 54 minutes.
The last time the father and son saw each other was in February 2024 when the prince flew to the UK after the monarch announced his cancer diagnosis.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have lived in California since they quit roles as senior working royals in March 2020.
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat.
The far-right politician, who ruled Brazil between 2019 and 2022, is currently under house arrest in the capital, Brasilia.
A panel of five Supreme Court justices handed down the sentence several hours after they found the 70-year-old guilty on five counts.
The counts were trying to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organisation, attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, being implicated in violence, and posing a serious threat to the state’s assets and listed heritage.
Bolsonaro‘s lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict.
Pic: AP
The ruling will deepen political divisions in Brazil and is also likely to prompt a backlash from the United States government – with Donald Trump already sharing his thoughts on the vote.
President Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, has said he was surprised and “very unhappy” with the decision.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said he always found Bolsonaro “outstanding” and said the conviction is “very bad for Brazil”.
Mr Trump previously called the case a “witch hunt”, slapped Brazil with tariff hikes, and revoked US visas for most members of Brazil’s high court.
Bolsonaro is the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.
He has not attended the court proceedings, and on Thursday, he was seen at the garage of his property, but did not talk to the media.
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Justice Carmen Lucia. Pic: AP
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been overseeing the case, said on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organisation, and voted in favour of convicting him. Justices Flavio Dino, Carmen Lucia, and Cristiano Zanin sided with Justice Moraes in the trial.
On Wednesday, another justice, Luiz Fux, disagreed and voted to acquit the ex-president of all charges.
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Justice Lucia said she was convinced by the evidence the attorney general’s office put forward against Bolsonaro, saying: “He is the instigator, the leader of an organisation that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power.”
Bolsonaro had been previously banned from running for office until 2030 in a different case.
He is expected to choose an heir who is likely to challenge President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next year.
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