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In 2019, the government put the goal of reaching net zero by 2050 into law, but recently the future of the Conservative Party’s green agenda has been the subject of intense debate.

Sparked by its narrow win in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election – a battle fought and won by the Conservatives’ opposition to London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme – some in the party have been calling for a rethink of their current climate commitments, while others demanded the government stayed on track with its pledges.

But the former camp seems to have won over the prime minister, with Rishi Sunak announcing his plans to ditch or delay a number of climate policies.

Making a surprise speech in Downing Street, he insisted he believed in achieving the net zero goal, but said there needed to be a change in approach or we would “risk losing the consent of the British people” for the policies.

Standing in front of a lectern promising “long-term decisions for a brighter future”, he said families should not face “unacceptable costs” to go green, adding: “No one in Westminster politics has yet had the courage to look people in the eye and explain what’s really involved. That’s wrong, and it changes now.”

So what were the climate pledges from the government? And which ones are now being axed by Mr Sunak?

Reaching net zero by 2050

The overarching promise from the Conservative government was to ensure the UK reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from 1990 levels by 2050.

The measure was made law by Theresa May in the dying days of her premiership back in 2019 and it was backed by Boris Johnson throughout his time in Number 10.

But when Liz Truss entered Downing Street, she ordered a review into the target – though her stint ended before it came to pass – showing not everyone in the party was on board.

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Johnson criticised those against net zero pledge in 2020

Mr Sunak has insisted he is committed to the pledge – even after the changes he has announced.

But questions have been raised over whether the government is doing enough to even meet the target, with the Climate Change Committee warning progress had been “worryingly slow”, and time is “very short” to correct the path.

Phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2030

In 2020, then prime minister Mr Johnson made a commitment to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK after 2030 – bringing the target forward by 10 years.

The £12bn plan promised to accelerate the rollout of charge points for electric vehicles, as well as the development and mass production of electric vehicle batteries, in an attempt to lower emissions and clean up the air.

Electric car
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The government pledged to build more charging points and develop batteries

Number 10 was saying as recently as August that Mr Sunak was committed to the 2030 date, though they hinted the ban was to be kept under review to ensure the prime minister’s promise to be “proportionate and pragmatic” with climate policies was kept.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove also doubled down over the summer on keeping to the pledge, saying the target is “immoveable”.

But Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch was understood to be pushing back on one element – fining car manufacturers if they don’t meet the target of making at least 22% of the cars they sell electric by 2024.

Current rules would mean a company would be subject to a £15,000 fine for every vehicle that does not comply.

Now, Mr Sunak has confirmed the deadline will be pushed back by five years to 2035 – despite calls from the industry to keep the measure.

He said by 2030 “the vast majority of cars sold” would be electric, but he said he believed that “at least for now, it should be you the consumer that makes that choice, not government forcing you to do it”.

Energy efficient landlords

Another pledge made by Mr Johnson in 2020 was to ensure all privately rented homes had an energy efficiency rating of C or better – where A is the best and G is the worst – by 2028.

While the plan could be costly for landlords, it would lead to a reduction in bills for many renters and stop leaky homes adding to emissions.

Mr Gove, the former environment secretary who is now the minister in charge of housing, said back in July he wanted to see the government “relax the pace” of the 2028 deadline, adding: “We’re asking too much too quickly”.

But Mr Sunak has now insisted no property owners would be “forced” into making “expensive upgrades”, and will only have to do so “when they can”.

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The future of boilers

The ambition for all new heating system installations to be low carbon by 2035 – accompanied by a pot of £450m to help with household grants – is being watered down.

The prime minister confirmed there would be a new exemption for around a fifth of homes, so that “households who will most struggle to make the switch to heat pumps or other low-carbon alternatives won’t have to do so”.

However, he said the grant available for boiler upgrades for those who do want to change to a greener alternative would increase from £5,000 to £7,500.

There had been a target in place to ensure all new homes were built with an alternative to a gas boiler – such as a heat pump – after 2025, but Downing Street would not confirm if that target remained in place.

But Mr Sunak did announce that the plan to ban all off-grid oil boilers by 2026 was now being delayed to 2035.

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From May: ‘There’s a lot of myths around heat pumps’

Hydrogen levy

Another move that already appears to have been shelved is the introduction of an annual levy to cover the cost of producing low-carbon hydrogen, instead of using fossil fuels, for energy at home.

The fee – which was expected to cost households around £118 a year – was due to be added to bills in 2025, and would help cut emissions by cleaning up the energy market.

But former energy security secretary Grant Shapps – who was recently appointed defence secretary – made numerous protestations about the cost being borne by people rather than companies, and has pledged numerous times to find another way of funding the change.

What else is being chopped?

A number of policies that hadn’t been announced have been pre-emptively scrapped by Mr Sunak.

He said he would rule out policy ideas requiring people to share cars, eat less meat and dairy, or have seven bins to hit recycling targets.

The prime minister also said he would not put forward any plans to discourage their flying by taxing it further.

“There will be resistance – and we will meet it,” he said.

What about the other parties?

When it comes to Labour, one of Sir Keir Starmer’s missions for government is to “make Britain a green energy super power”.

The party said, if it got into power, it would cut bills and increase energy security by making all electricity zero-carbon by 2030, and carry out upgrades to 19 million homes to make sure they are insulated.

Click to subscribe to ClimateCast with Tom Heap wherever you get your podcasts

It would also create a new publicly owned company called GB Energy, tasked with championing clean energy, increasing jobs and building better supply chains.

But Labour has backtracked on its £28bn a year investment pledge to accelerate the shift towards net zero, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves blaming rising interest rates and the “damage” the Conservatives had done to the economy since the announcement was made.

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January: Energy crisis ’caused by Tory experiment’ – Labour

The Liberal Democrats have a raft of green policy proposals, including upgrading insulation in all existing homes by 2030 and ensuring all new builds are “eco friendly”.

Other measures include investing to get 80% of the UK’s electricity from green energy by 2030, and creating a £20bn Clean Air Fund to create walking and cycling routes to schools, and investment in pollution-free public transport.

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Sir Keir Starmer says US-UK trade talks ‘well advanced’ and rejects ‘knee-jerk’ response to Donald Trump tariffs

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Sir Keir Starmer says US-UK trade talks 'well advanced' and rejects 'knee-jerk' response to Donald Trump tariffs

Sir Keir Starmer has said US-UK trade talks are “well advanced” ahead of tariffs expected to be imposed by Donald Trump on the UK this week – but rejected a “knee-jerk” response.

Speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, the prime minister said the UK is “working hard on an economic deal” with the US and said “rapid progress” has been made on it ahead of tariffs expected to be imposed on Wednesday.

But, he admitted: “Look, the likelihood is there will be tariffs. Nobody welcomes that, nobody wants a trade war.

“But I have to act in the national interest and that means all options have to remain on the table.”

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Sir Keir added: “We are discussing economic deals. We’re well advanced.

“These would normally take months or years, and in a matter of weeks, we’ve got well advanced in those discussions, so I think that a calm approach, a collected approach, not a knee-jerk approach, is what’s needed in the best interests of our country.”

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Keir Starmer

Downing Street said on Monday the UK is expecting to be hit by new US tariffs on Wednesday – branded “liberation day” by the US president – as a deal to exempt British goods would not be reached in time.

A 25% levy on car and car parts had already been announced but the new tariffs are expected to cover all exports to the US.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary, earlier told Sky News he is “hopeful” the tariffs can be reversed soon.

But he warned: “The longer we don’t have a potential resolution, the more we will have to consider our own position in relation to [tariffs], precluding retaliatory tariffs.”

He added the government was taking a “calm-headed” approach in the hope a deal can be agreed but said it is only “reasonable” retaliatory tariffs are an option, echoing Sir Keir’s sentiments over the weekend.

Read more:
Why a figure of 48% is important as Trump tariffs near
Starmer and Trump discuss US-UK ‘prosperity’ deal

Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. Pic: Reuters

Tariff announcement on Wednesday

Mr Trump has been threatening tariffs – import taxes – on countries with the biggest trade imbalances with the US.

However, over the weekend, he suggested the tariffs would hit all countries, but did not name them or reveal which industries would be targeted.

Read more: How Trump’s tariffs could affect the UK

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‘Everything on table over US tariffs’

Mr Trump will unveil his tariff plan on Wednesday afternoon at the first Rose Garden news conference of his second term, the White House press secretary said.

“Wednesday, it will be Liberation Day in America, as President Trump has so proudly dubbed it,” Karoline Leavitt said.

“The president will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades. He’s doing this in the best interest of the American worker.”

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Trump’s tariffs: What can we expect?

Tariffs would cut UK economy by 1%

UK government forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said a 20 percentage point increase in tariffs on UK goods and services would cut the size of the British economy by 1% and force tax rises this autumn.

Global markets remained flat or down on Monday in anticipation of the tariffs, with the FTSE 100 stock exchange trading about 1.3% lower on Monday, closing with a 0.9% loss.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% after a volatile day which saw it down as much as 1.7% in the morning.

However, the FTSE 100 is expected to open about 0.4% higher on Tuesday, while Asian markets also steadied, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 broadly unchanged after a 4% slump yesterday.

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Blockchain Association CEO will move to Solana advocacy group

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Blockchain Association CEO will move to Solana advocacy group

Blockchain Association CEO will move to Solana advocacy group

Kristin Smith, CEO of the US-based Blockchain Association, will be leaving the cryptocurrency advocacy group for the recently launched Solana Policy Institute.

In an April 1 notice, the Blockchain Association (BA) said Smith would be stepping down from her role as CEO on May 16. According to the association, the soon-to-be former CEO will become president of the Solana Policy Institute on May 19.

The association’s notice did not provide an apparent reason for the move to the Solana advocacy organization nor say who would lead the group after Smith’s departure. Cointelegraph reached out to the Blockchain Association for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Cryptocurrencies, United States, Solana, Policy

Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith’s April 1 announcement. Source: LinkedIn

Smith, who has worked at the BA since 2018 and was deputy chief of staff for former Montana Representative Denny Rehberg, will follow DeFi Education Fund CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine, leaving his position to join the Solana Policy Institute as CEO. According to Whitehouse-Levine, the organization plans to educate US policymakers on Solana.

Related: Congress on track for stablecoin, market structure bills by August: Blockchain Association

With members from the crypto industry, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Chainlink Labs, the BA has filed a lawsuit against the US Internal Revenue Service, challenging regulations requiring brokers to report crypto transactions. The group often criticized the US Securities and Exchange Commission under former chair Gary Gensler for its “regulation by enforcement” approach to crypto, resulting in steep legal fees for many companies.

Less than 48 hours after the Solana Policy Institute’s launch, it’s unclear what the group’s immediate goals may be for engaging with US lawmakers and advocating for the industry. The organization described itself as a non-partisan nonprofit group.

Magazine: Solana ‘will be a trillion-dollar asset’: Mert Mumtaz, X Hall of Flame

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Payouts for departing civil servants capped at £95,000 under voluntary exit scheme

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Payouts for departing civil servants capped at £95,000 under voluntary exit scheme

The most senior and long-serving civil servants could be offered a maximum of £95,000 to quit their jobs as part of a government efficiency drive.

Sky News reported last week that several government departments had started voluntary exit schemes for staff in a bid to make savings, including the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, the Foreign Office and the Cabinet Office.

The Department for Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government have yet to start schemes but it is expected they will, with the former already set to lose staff following the abolition of NHS England that was announced earlier this month.

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Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, confirmed in last week’s spring statement that the government was setting aside £150m to fund the voluntary exit schemes, which differ from voluntary redundancy in that they offer departments more flexibility around the terms offered to departing staff.

Ms Reeves said the funding would enable departments to reduce staffing numbers over the next two years, creating “significant savings” on staff employment costs.

A maximum limit for departing staff is usually set at one month per year of service capped at 21 months of pay or £95,000.

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Whitehall sources stressed the figure was “very much the maximum that could be offered” given that the average civil service salary is just over £30,000 per year.

Whitehall departments will need to bid for the money provided at the spring statement and match the £150m from their own budgets, bringing the total funding to £300m.

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Spring statement 2025 key takeaways

The Cabinet Office is understood to be targeting 400 employees in a scheme that was announced last year and will continue to run over this year.

A spokesman said each application to the scheme would be examined on a case-by-case basis to ensure “we retain critical skills and experience”.

It is up to each government department to decide how they operate their scheme.

The voluntary exit schemes form part of the government’s ambition to reduce bureaucracy and make the state more efficient amid a gloomy economic backdrop.

Ahead of the spring statement, Ms Reeves announced plans to cut civil service running costs by 15% by 2030, which ministers have said will save £2.2bn.

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The move could result in 10,000 civil service jobs being axed after numbers ballooned during the pandemic.

Ms Reeves hopes the cuts, which she said will be to “back office jobs” rather than frontline services, but civil service unions have raised concerns that government departments will inevitably lose skilled and experienced staff.

The cuts form part of a wider government agenda to streamline the civil service and the size of the British state, which Sir Keir Starmer criticised as “weaker than it has ever been”.

During the same speech, he announced that NHS England, the administrative body that runs the NHS, would also be scrapped to eliminate duplication and cut costs.

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