Climate change: Home secretary Suella Braverman on net zero pledges: ‘We’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting Britons’

Published

8 months ago

September 20, 2023

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The home secretary has said that “we’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people” in response to reports the government is looking at watering down some of its key green pledges

Among the changes being considering are the pushing back of a ban on the sales of new vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) from 2030 to 2035 – and a weakening of plans to phase out gas boilers by 2035.

Suella Braverman told Sky News that, while the government remains committed to the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, “we need to put economic growth first”.

Politics latest: Tory row as Sunak set to delay net zero policies

“We need to put household costs and budgets first. We need to put the cost of living first,” she added.

“And we’re only going to achieve that net zero target whereby people and the British people can go about their daily lives using their cars, using the facilities that are available.”

The chair of Ford UK says a delay to the 2030 deadline for selling ICE vehicles would undermine the “ambition, commitment and consistency” they need from the UK government.

The 2030 ban on ICE vehicles is considered a key plank of the government’s goal of achieving net zero because experts say it will encourage people to switch to zero-emission electric vehicles sooner.

Climate scientists say that urgent cuts are needed to the world’s greenhouse gas emissions if we are to stop temperatures rising to a potentially catastrophic extent.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to lay out further details of his plans in a speech in the coming days. The reported change in stance has led at least one Tory MP to “seriously” consider putting in a letter of no confidence in Mr Sunak’s leadership.

In a statement, Mr Sunak said: “No leak will stop me beginning the process of telling the country how and why we need to change.

“As a first step, I’ll be giving a speech this week to set out an important long-term decision we need to make so our country becomes the place I know we all want it to be for our children.”

Conservative MPs are particularly angry at the potential delay to the ending of the sale of internal combustion engines to 2035.

One branded the move “anti-business” given how much has been invested into electric vehicles (EV) and the associated infrastructure.

Could watering down net zero pledges trigger Tory civil war?

Mhari Aurora

Politics and business correspondent

@MhariAurora

An unusual late-night statement from the prime minister triggered by leaks to the media regarding the government’s plans to water down its net zero pledges: Rishi Sunak is continuing to draw the battlelines for the next general election.

Green policy is a contentious topic for both main parties – Keir Starmer, like Sunak, has been heavily criticised for abandoning his green pledges.

But as politicians struggle to balance the cost of going green with boosting the UK’s recovering economy, how much political pain could this really inflict on the prime minister?

Despite a vocal group of critics, behind the scenes many Tory MPs are keen on the climbdown.

One Tory backbencher told Sky News that being “pragmatic and outcome-focused beats virtue signalling every time”.

And Marco Longhi, a Tory MP with a red wall constituency, told me the PM’s decision was extremely welcome.

He said: “While fully behind efforts to deliver a greener planet I am not going to support policies that are only affordable by the richest.”

And at a time when the Conservative party is 19 points behind in the polls – with Labour on 44 points and the Tories lagging on 26 points – Rishi Sunak is keen to make some bold policy decisions in an attempt to close that gap.

However, it remains to be seen whether this is the smartest policy area in which to do that.

According to a YouGov poll from August, 33% of those surveyed said they believe the government should be spending more on the environment and climate change, and 49% believe Sunak’s government isn’t doing enough to reduce carbon emissions.

So, with tentative public support for a green economy, Sunak’s predicted climbdown is an electoral gamble he will be hoping pays off at the ballot box.

They told Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates that a push back on the petrol and diesel ban would mean breaking a promise the prime minister made to Conservative MPs privately.

One minister said they would be “staggered” if the ban was delayed, telling Sky News: “Every automotive company is investing in EV, we’ve just given Tata all this money to make batteries, it’s bonkers.”

He was referring to plans by the owner of Jaguar Land Rover to build an electric car battery factory in the UK.

Tory MPs Chris Skidmore, Alok Sharma and Sir Simon Clarke all complained publicly about the potential watering down of the pledges.

Lisa Brankin, the chair of Ford UK, highlighted that her company had invested £430m in UK development and manufacturing facilities, with more cash to come to fit the 2030 timeframe.

Ms Brankin said: “This is the biggest industry transformation in over a century and the UK 2030 target is a vital catalyst to accelerate Ford into a cleaner future.

“Our business needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three.

“We need the policy focus trained on bolstering the EV market in the short term and supporting consumers while headwinds are strong: infrastructure remains immature, tariffs loom and cost-of-living is high.”

A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover said: “We are committed to and on track to offer pure electric variants across our brands by 2030 and welcome certainty around legislation for the end of sale of petrol and diesel powered cars.

“We are investing £15bn over the next five years to electrify our luxury brands, which is key to JLR reaching net zero carbon emissions across our supply chain, products, and operations by 2039.”

Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and DS said: “Clarity is required from Governments on important legislation, especially environmental issues that impact society as a whole.”

BMW MINI, which announced plans to construct its electric Mini in Oxford, said it “neither sought or was made any promises” about the timings of an ICE ban when the decision was made.

Asked about the EV industry, Ms Braverman said: “I’m not going to prejudge what the prime minister is going to set out in detail.

“But I would say I do commend him for taking difficult decisions, long-term decisions in the national interest and in the interest of the British people.”

Asked about the concerns raised by her Conservative MPs, Ms Braverman said “everyone should just wait until they hear the detail from the prime minister himself”.

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Darren Jones, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said we will need to wait for the reaction of the car companies to the anticipated policy change.

He told Sky News that “part of the problem” is Mr Sunak’s “weak leadership”, and the way in which the changes first surfaced through a leak and with a “late night press release from the prime minister’s bunker”.

Business

Post Office spin doctor said he was in a ‘corporate cover up’ – years before apology issued to Horizon victims

Published

7 hours ago

May 14, 2024

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Post Office spin doctor said he was in a 'corporate cover up' - years before apology issued to Horizon victims

A former Post Office communications director told fellow employees he was at “the heart of a corporate cover-up”, at the same time as sub-postmaster prosecutions were taking place and years before an apology was made to victims.

The inquiry into faulty Horizon software, and the associated prosecution of 700 sub-postmasters for theft and false accounting, is taking place to establish a clear account of the implementation and failure of the Fujitsu created software.

As well as the wrongful convictions many more sub-postmasters racked up large debts, lost homes, livelihoods, and reputations as they borrowed heavily to plug Horizon’s incorrectly generated shortfalls in their Post Office branches.

The issue has received renewed attention after the January airing of ITV drama Mr Bates v The Post Office.

An email presented to the inquiry on Tuesday showed the Post Office’s former group communications and corporate affairs director Mark Davies believed he was part of a cover-up and conspiracy.

“It’s fascinating to be part of a conspiracy. To be at the heart of a corporate cover-up,” Mr Davies said in an email to Post Office communications staff, a legal team member, and another director.

At the time the email was sent, in January 2015, the Post Office was prosecuting sub-postmasters using data from Horizon.

It wasn’t until 2019 that an apology was issued to sub-postmasters as part of their successful High Court challenge of Horizon and related prosecutions.

‘Blaming the journalists’

Despite this, it was known at the time that branch accounts could be accessed and altered remotely by the maker Fujitsu or by the Post Office IT helpdesk.

Mr Davies, appearing at the inquiry, said he thought this remote access was only used once when asked why one of his employees said the idea of remote access was “totally loony” and a “conspiracy theory”.

Emails sent by him were consistently “blaming the journalists” for asking questions about Horizon failings, a barrister for the inquiry Julian Blake said.

It was a characterisation accepted by Mr Davies, who said: “With the benefit of hindsight, they absolutely, some of [the emails] look ludicrous, I agree.”

A report into Horizon flaws conducted by forensic accountants Second Sight commissioned by Post Office had identified bugs but Mr Davies and his team viewed its authors as lacking independence.

Second Sight were “colluding” with sub-postmasters, Mr Davies said in an email to the Post Office’s then chief executive Paula Vennells.

Various emails shown to Mr Davies on Tuesday described journalists and Second Sight as “attackers” and media reports as “sloppy”.

Additional reporting by Evan Dale.

Business

Labour leader reassures union bosses in row over workers’ rights plans – but it’s not over yet

Published

7 hours ago

May 14, 2024

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Labour leader reassures union bosses in row over workers' rights plans – but it's not over yet

Sir Keir Starmer has moved to reassure trade union bosses about his party’s plans to strengthen workers’ rights, after he was accused of watering them down.

The party has promised a radical shake-up for workers if they win office – including banning zero hours contracts, employment rights from day one, and ending the practice of “fire and rehire”.

The new deal for working people was billed as the biggest advance in workers’ rights for decades when first unveiled by Angela Rayner in 2021.

The party made some changes last summer, but union bosses claimed a new document circulated to them last week was an attempt to row back further on these commitments.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, called the new document – which has not been made public – a “betrayal” and “unrecognisable” from the original plans.

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With tensions running high, bosses of trade unions affiliated to Labour met with Sir Keir, deputy leader Angela Rayner and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and agreed to scrap the new draft.

In a joint statement they said: “Labour and the affiliated unions had a constructive discussion today. Together we have reiterated Labour’s full commitment to the new deal for working people as agreed in July.

“We will continue to work together at pace on how a Labour government would implement it in legislation.”

Union sources who feared the Labour leadership were bowing to pressure from big business ahead of the election, claimed the party had been talked into a retreat.

After three hours at Labour’s south London headquarters – although it is understood Sir Keir was not there for the whole meeting – Ms Graham said Labour’s position had changed.

She told Sky News: “It was constructive. I think it was really important to have the workers’ voices heard in the meeting itself, because we wanted to reaffirm our position that the New Deal for Working People must be implemented.

“We’ve got a really good position where that has been recommitted to. We’re meeting again in three weeks’ time after we put some information together to discuss a new document. It was a crunch meeting. It was a red line meeting. But I think we’ve got there.” She added: “I think it [Labour’s position] has changed”.

The new deal had originally come with a promise that an “employment rights bill” to legislate for it would be introduced within 100 days of winning power, although this is now seen as unrealistic.

Some changes were agreed last summer at the national policy forum, a gathering of party officials, MPs and union leaders, which the Unite boss claimed was an attempt to “curry favour with big business”.

The Financial Times reported last week that a new draft included even more business-friendly language on fire and rehire – essentially sacking workers and hiring them back on less favourable terms.

The paper reported that it contained a line about the importance of allowing businesses to “restructure to remain viable and preserve their workforce when there is genuinely no alternative”.

It was also claimed that zero hours contracts would not be completely banned because some people choose to have them – but give workers rights to a contract reflecting their usual work pattern.

Labour has also promised to bring in fair pay agreements for social care workers, which a right-wing research group Policy Exchange claimed could add £225 to the average council tax bill.

Sir Keir’s party has already pruned back their 2021 plans to invest £28bn in green energy, after a protracted battle within the party.

Union leaders will be holding Sir Keir and his shadow chancellors’ feet to the fire to ensure another of his party’s more radical dividing lines does not go the same way, under the glare of an election campaign.

But despite the smiles today, this is a row delayed, with more wrangling to be done.

Business

Interest rate cut prospects threatened by pace of wage growth

Published

19 hours ago

May 14, 2024

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Interest rate cut prospects threatened by pace of wage growth

The prospects for an interest rate cut next month have not been helped by the latest wage growth figures which have come in higher than expected.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed regular wage growth, excluding the effects of bonuses, was 6% higher over the three months to March compared with a year earlier.

That was no lower than the sum reported the previous month.

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The ONS reported that total pay was also static, at an upwardly revised 5.7% for the period.

Economists had been expecting declines in both readings.

The data also showed a rise in the unemployment rate from 4.2% to 4.3%.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “We continue to see tentative signs that the jobs market is cooling, with both employment from our household survey and the number of workers on payroll showing falls in the latest periods.

“At the same time, the steady decline in the number of job vacancies has continued for a twenty-second consecutive month, although numbers remain above pre-pandemic levels.

“With unemployment also increasing, the number of unemployed people per vacancy has continued to rise, approaching levels seen before the onset of COVID-19.

“Earnings growth in cash terms remains high, with the recent falls in the rate now levelling off while, with inflation falling, real pay growth remains at its highest level in well over two years.”

The figures were released against a backdrop of intense speculation on the timing of a Bank of England interest rate cut.

The Bank, which last week signalled further progress in efforts to bring down inflation, has held the rate at 5.25% since last summer.

The rate-setting committee wants to see a “sustainable” return to its 2% inflation target before imposing the first cut.

Wage growth has been among the stubborn factors of concern.

The Bank feels that the pace, currently around double the rate of price growth, risks fuelling a second round of inflation because more discretionary spending could result in higher prices.

Its chief economist Huw Pill later said in a speech that the pay growth rates remain “quite well above” what would be consistent for meeting the target sustainably.

Inflation figures out next week, which cover the month of April, are tipped to show a sharp easing in the main consumer prices index (CPI) measure, largely due to plunging energy bills.

A figure just above 2% is forecast by economists.

The Bank has resisted the temptation to cut borrowing costs as it believes that figure could shift back up towards 3% in the second half of the year.

Financial markets saw a 53% chance of a rate cut on 20 June – the monetary policy committee’s (MPC’s) next meeting.

While restrictive monetary policy was largely blamed for the UK’s recession during the second half of 2023, the economy has since performed better than expected.

That complicates the picture for the MPC.

Separate ONS data last week showed a 0.6% rise in gross domestic product during the first quarter of the year.

As with the wage figures, the Bank will be anxious that a growth spurt risks fanning the flames of inflation.

Policymakers have said their decisions will be data dependent.

There is a further employment report due from the ONS ahead of 20 June and two sets of inflation figures between today and that date.

Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said of the rate cut prospects: “Next month will be key in terms of pay data as it will provide initial evidence of the impact of April’s National Living Wage increase.

“If it comes in line with our expectations of only a modest boost, and sufficient to keep annual pay growth on a downward trajectory, this could ignite more dovish sentiment on the MPC ahead of their June vote.”

Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, believed the Bank would back a rate cut at its next meeting.

“Much as we have concerns over the jobs data, the labour market keeps gradually easing, and they give the MPC a hook to hang a June rate cut on,” he wrote.