Will Rishi Sunak delaying electric car and gas boiler switch affect me?
The cost of living crisis has seen Rishi Sunak go back on some of the government’s key promises on climate change.
In a Downing Street speech on Wednesday, the prime minister announced a delay in the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 to 2035 and on gas boilers in all new homes from 2025 to 2035.
He also scrapped plans that would have made rental properties more energy efficient.
But with changes still years into the future – and the cost of living crisis rumbling on – will pushing deadlines back make a difference to people’s finances now? Here, Sky News takes a look.
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Live reaction to PM’s green policy changes
Petrol and diesel vehicle ban
When he was prime minister in 2020, Boris Johnson committed to banning the sale of any new petrol and diesel cars in the UK from 2030. This is now being pushed back until 2035.
Plans to fine manufacturers for each vehicle that doesn’t comply are also being watered down.
Figures show that although petrol and diesel are still the overwhelming majority – the numbers of plug-in and battery electric vehicles on UK roads have increased – by 45% and 58% respectively.
And in 2023 more electric vehicles were registered than diesel ones for the first time.
This shows a “general trend” away internal combustion engines (ICE) – and towards more sustainable modes of transport already, says Oliver Montague, chief-executive and co-founder of the e-bike engineer company Swytch.
So a change in the timing of the ban is unlikely to have much of an impact.
“Those who have to transition [to EVs] will still have to do so – they just have more time to do it,” he tells Sky News.
“The real shift will be for people who can choose how they want to get around – who aren’t already hooked to one particular mode of transport” – such as a diesel car that needs trading in.
And with the average car journey being only around eight miles – he believes many will opt for e-bikes or cycling, instead of an electric vehicle, meaning the ICE ban will have even less of an impact.
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The RAC also notes the ban only covers new petrol and diesel cars, which means “a lot of people won’t be affected as the majority tend to buy used vehicles”.
Mike Childs, head of science, research and policy at Friends of the Earth, adds that people will still be able to buy non-UK manufactured EVs.
“From a consumer perspective it won’t have a great impact because they can just buy Chinese or German EVs,” he tells Sky News.
“But for British manufacturing it’s a huge backwards step and a massive shot in the foot for jobs.”
No gas boilers in new homes
Plans to stop new build properties being fitted with gas boilers beyond 2025 are being pushed back 10 years.
This doesn’t affect people who already have gas boilers, who won’t need to replace them with alternatives such as heat pumps. As a result, this change is more likely to affect developers than consumers.
Domestic heat pump
Jess Ralston, energy analyst at Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, says that with a greater upfront cost for heat pumps, we won’t know until the changes come in how much of that will be passed on to buyers.
But she adds: “As time goes on heat pumps are going to be cheaper to buy and run anyway.”
Plans for all new heating systems to be low carbon by 2035, including £450m in household grants, has also been scrapped.
This means more people will have gas boilers for longer, which with prices “two to three times’ pre-crisis levels” will mean people paying more in energy bills, Ms Ralston adds.
But on Wednesday Mr Sunak did announce a 50% increase in the boiler upgrade scheme, which offers people £7,500 to help with the costs of switching from a boiler to a heat pump.
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More energy efficient landlords
In 2020, Boris Johnson also pledged that from 2028 all rental properties would have to have an energy efficient rating of C or higher (A being the best and G the worst). But Mr Sunak is scrapping this due to “cost of living challenges”.
Ms Ralston says she “cannot get a single shred of logic” from the decision.
“This would reduce people’s energy bills in the cost of living crisis and increase energy security – things that the government say they want to be doing. It makes no sense whatsoever.”
Mr Childs says it will disproportionately affect people on lower incomes who are more likely to rent their homes.
“This is a massive kick in the teeth to people who live in cold, damp rented homes that are expensive to heat.
“It’s also a massive handout to landlords who can’t be bothered to insulate their properties properly,” he says.
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He adds that despite some drop in prices this year, the cost of oil and gas is increasing again – and will remain volatile for as long as Russia is at war with Ukraine.
“There are more renters than there are landlords, so it makes no sense on votes. It just begs the question of whether the government are being lobbied by wealthy landlords,” Ms Ralston says.
Hydrogen levy
The government was proposing to introduce a levy of around £100 on household energy bills in 2025 – to help pay for low-carbon hydrogen production.
But after many claimed the hydrogen was being used primarily in industry – not people’s homes – ministers have scrapped it.
This is being welcomed by environmental and consumer groups.
Ms Ralston says that heat pumps are far more efficient than hydrogen for heating homes – so the government was right to recognise this wasn’t something the public should pay for.
Mr Childs adds that hydrogen still relies on natural gas – which both homes and transport have been moving away from, so Friends of the Earth has been “against it from the outset”.
Three brothers have been jailed after underage girls in Leeds and Barrow-in-Furness were sexually abused and raped over a number of years.
The trio were convicted in October last year, with the abuse taking place between 1996 and 2010.
Shaha Amran Miah, 49, known as Jai; Shaha Alman Miah, 47, known as Ali; and Shah Joman Miah, 38, known as Sarj all pleaded not guilty.
Sarj has since admitted his crimes. However, the judge said it could be a cynical attempt for leniency and did not give him any credit.
Shaha Amran Miah, Shaha Joman Miah and Shaha Alman Miah. Pic: Cumbria Police
They were sentenced on Friday to the following:
Shaha Amran Miah – life with a minimum term of 20 years and 338 days.
Shaha Alman Miah – 10 years in prison and four years on licence.
Shah Joman Miah – life with a minimum term of 21 years and 232 days.
Preston Crown Court heard Sarj and Jai regularly sexually abused two children at a Leeds mosque over many years, beginning when the victims were seven.
The three also preyed on vulnerable and underage girls at a flat above their family’s takeaway in Barrow, Cumbria, between 2008 and 2010.
They gave them cigarettes, alcohol, food and even hair extensions in what barrister Tim Evans KC called a “classic grooming technique”.
He said the brothers worked as a team and “created an environment in Barrow in which each of them could abuse young girls”.
Judge Unsworth KC said they had shattered the lives of their victims and hid in plain sight in the Cumbria town.
Multiple schoolgirls in their uniforms were regularly seen at the takeaway, the judge said, with Jai acting ruthlessly to stop them going to the police.
The court heard Sarj would take one of the girls to a hotel for sex about twice a month and became increasingly controlling – to the point she remains on medication and is terrified of seeing him in the street.
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A witness told Sky News the men abused their victims in a dingy room above the takeaway that “looked like a crackhouse” and had mattresses on the floor and sheets covering the windows.
“They knew exactly how young they were,” she said. “They didn’t only have one girlfriend each… they had multiple.”
Shaha Amran Miah was found guilty of 16 sexual offences against three girls, including rape, as well as two charges of intimidation and one of kidnap.
Shaha Alman Miah was found guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a child.
Shah Joman Miah was convicted of sexually abusing three children. There were nine counts of rape of a child among his 40 offences.
Apple will no longer offer customers in the UK its most advanced, end-to-end security encryption feature for cloud data – following a security row with the government.
The Advanced Data Protection (ADP) tool is an optional feature which means only account holders can see things like photos or documents that they have stored online. Apple itself does not have access to the data.
However, the UK government reportedly requested the right to see the data earlier this month.
In response, Apple has removed the tool from use in the UK.
The company is switching it off as an option for those not already using it, and will introduce a process to move existing users away from it.
Security officials argue that encryption hinders criminal investigations, while tech firms defend it as essential to user privacy.
The loss of end-to-end encryption for iCloud backup means Apple would be able in some instances to read user data such as iMessages that would otherwise be protected and pass it on to authorities if legally compelled.
However, if a user has end-to-end encryption, Apple cannot read the data under any circumstances.
An Apple store in New York. Pic: iStock
What has Apple said?
“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy,” Apple said in a statement.
“Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before.
“Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom.”
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Apple customers who already had the data protection tool turned on “will eventually need to disable this security feature”, said the company.
It is already unavailable for customers who weren’t using the feature, who now see a message reading: “Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users.”
What has the UK government said?
The government said it will not confirm or deny whether it requested a Technical Capability Notice (TCN), which is what would give it the right to see the encrypted data.
“We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices,” a Home Office spokesperson told Sky News.
According to a Home Office source, however, even if a TCN was issued, it wouldn’t give the government blanket access to people’s data.
Separate authorisations or warrants would still be required.
What’s the reaction from the tech industry?
Many in the tech industry are shocked by Apple’s move, with Graeme Stewart from cybersecurity company Check Point saying it “is effectively smashing open Pandora’s box and hoping the chaos stays neatly inside”.
“At its heart, encryption isn’t just for criminals; it’s a shield for millions of law-abiding citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure,” he said.
“Now we are prying open that door to our digital Fort Knox, there’s no telling what else might slip through.”
Apple was also described as “calling the government’s bluff” by Robert Peake who is the technology partner at Keystone Law, for refusing to create a backdoor into its protected data.
“The Government will face increasing pressure to back down on this, as it seriously undermines its recent attempts to portray the UK as a pro-innovation place to operate,” he said.
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