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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Green Party hits out at Braverman
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”.
UK
Hainault samurai sword incident: Man charged with murder of Daniel Anjorin, 14, in sword attack appears in court
A man has appeared in court charged with murdering 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, who was killed during a sword attack in London.
Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, a Spanish-Brazilian national from Newham, east London, was also charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, and possession of a bladed article, the police announced on Wednesday.
Four people were injured, including two Metropolitan Police officers, in Hainault in northeast London on Tuesday.
Monzo, 36, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today and was remanded in custody this morning.
Wearing a grey sweatshirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, he spoke only to confirm his name in the dock.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldpsring remanded him in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday if a hearing is not available on Friday.
Daniel Anjorin was a pupil at Bancroft’s private school in Woodford Green – the same school attended by Nottingham attack victim Grace O’Malley-Kumar.
Daniel Anjorin. Pic: Met Police
Floral tributes in Hainault, northeast London, where 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin was killed in a sword attack on Tuesday. Pic: PA
Staff and pupils at the school said that Daniel’s sudden death had left them in “profound shock and sorrow”.
Daniel’s family told Sky News he was “a wonderful child” who was “well loved” and “hard-working” – and that his death “leaves a gaping wound in the family”.
They added: “No family should have to go through what we are experiencing.
“Any family will understand it’s an absolute tragedy.”
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Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for CPS London North, said: “Our thoughts remain firmly with the family of Daniel and all those who have been impacted by this horrific incident.
“We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that they have a right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
A night of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms has caused travel delays and damaged a care home in West Sussex.
Thunderstorms hit southeast England overnight – with a Met Office warning in place until 10am.
In southwest England and Wales a similar storm warning was in place until 8am Thursday morning.
However, the wet weather may be sandwiched between two of the hottest days of 2024 so far.
The Met Office thunderstorm warnings. Pic: Met Office
Overnight, two buildings in Sussex were damaged by lightning strikes, according to West Sussex Fire & Rescue.
A care home in Elmer, West Sussex, was struck, causing damage to its roof, and a university building in Chichester sustained damage to its roof and power system.
The service confirmed that no one was injured and occupants were relocated while the damage was assessed.
Get the latest Sky News forecast for your area
Pic: @WestSussexFire
Lightning above Worthing
There were travel delays on South Western Railway trains after the stormy weather, causing delays between Axminster and Honiton expected to last until at least 11am on Thursday.
This has affected trains running into London Waterloo, from as far as Exeter St David’s.
The Met Office warned the storms overnight may trigger travel disruption leading into Thursday’s rush hour, causing “difficult driving conditions and some road closures”.
There is also a chance of possible cancellations to public transport, as well as power cuts.
Temperatures could reach 24C
Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said that some places could see the warmest weather of the year on Thursday, with temperatures reaching as high as 24C.
This comes after Wednesday saw temperatures peak at their highest of the year so far as well, at 22.1C.
However, even as it becomes warmer, more thunderstorms could come on Thursday afternoon.
“After a night of storms, the rain will ease in the south of England for a while,” Mr Petagna said.
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“We could see the skies brightening up in a few places and it will be another warm day.
“Parts of the southeast could even get to 24C and beat Wednesday’s temperatures.
“But as the skies brighten and temperatures increase, this could spark a few more thundery showers in the afternoon, so it is likely to still be a bit unsettled and the forecast will be changeable over the next few days.”
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Looking ahead to the Bank Holiday weekend, Mr Petagna said the forecast was a “very mixed picture”.
Most of the UK is likely to experience some rain, but temperatures will remain fairly warm in the mid to late teens.
Wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures peaking at 22.1C in Santon Downham, in Suffolk, and reaching 21.9C in Aultbea, in the northwest Highlands.
However, other parts of the UK saw temperatures over 10C lower in some coastal areas – in Inverbervie, northeast Scotland, temperatures only peaked at 9.9C.
UK
Grieving parents who lost their son during birth demand nationwide guidance after hospital failings
“When Finn was born, I turned to Ruth and said, just wait. He’ll cry, he’ll cry… But he never did,” says Martin, wiping tears from his eyes.
Warning: This article contains distressing content.
His wife, Ruth, had just given birth to their first son. But after a traumatic delivery, Finn was born pale and limp, needing urgent resuscitation.
Ruth was also injured, suffering a birthing tear so severe it required surgery.
As the room at the London-based birthing centre flooded with doctors ready to whisk their son away, Martin asked his wife: “What do you want me to do? Stay with you, or go with Finn?”
Follow Finn, she told him. As the plastic cot containing his newborn son was wheeled out of the room, a sense of helplessness swept over him. “There was nothing I could do for either of them,” he says, his voice breaking.
While we talk, both Ruth and Martin break down in tears, taking turns to comfort each other, but when I ask if they want to take a break, they refuse. They are clear that what matters now is sharing Finn’s story.
Ruth and Martin
“He was our first,” says Ruth, adding that she had no idea what to expect from the birth in June 2021. “Everyone was still coming out of COVID times.”
Despite this, she said the pregnancy “was smooth sailing”.
“It was when we turned up for the actual birth that things went horribly wrong.”
Ruth gave birth to Finn at the Oasis Birth Centre, a midwife-led unit within the Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington, Bromley. It is mainly used for women with uncomplicated pregnancies, with access to birthing pools, massages and aromatherapy.
If extra care is needed during labour, patients are transferred to a delivery suite which the hospital trust’s website says is “just seconds away”.
The website adds that it intends to give parents the “control and support” they need and a place where they can “feel at home”.
Martin says he and Ruth were left alone with little guidance
But that wasn’t Ruth’s experience.
From the moment she entered the building, she says: “I wasn’t being listened to.”
Despite her labour progressing quickly and feeling the “overwhelming” urge to push, Ruth says, the midwives largely left her and Martin alone in the birthing pool with no real guidance.
“I remember on a couple of occasions saying to Martin, ‘Why are they not with us? Why are they not telling us what to do?'” she adds.
During this period, midwives failed to identify that Finn was in foetal distress.
Tragically, he suffered a severe brain injury as a result of complications during labour. He was starved of oxygen, a condition called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
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Ruth and Martin would later learn that midwives failed to check Finn’s heart rate in line with national guidelines. There should have been at least 24 readings, but only eight were recorded.
One of his biggest regrets, says Martin, is that during the birth he told Ruth: “They are the professionals. We need to trust them.”
Ruth, Martin and their second child Remy
The brain damage Finn experienced during birth was so severe, consultants eventually recommended turning off the support that was keeping him alive.
Instead of leaving hospital with their beautiful baby boy, Ruth and Martin, in a deep state of shock, left with a memory box containing mementoes including a lock of Finn’s hair.
“No one expects that,” she adds tearfully.
“Finn had a blessing done by a vicar,” Martin recalls. “Then later that day, we turned his ventilator off and held him while he died.”
Ruth and Martin are now also parents to their second son, Remy, who has brought joy back into their lives. They are taking care to ensure the 17-month-old knows all about his big brother.
Martin says Remy has brought joy back into their lives
“We have Finn’s pictures around the house. Martin handmade the cot for Finn. It’s got his name engraved in it, and Remy uses it now,” Ruth says. “And we had Finn’s handprint made into a stamp so we can include him in birthdays and Christmas cards.”
The inquest into Finn’s death concluded on 25 April, Ruth’s birthday.
Coroner Dr Julian Morris found there was a lack of clear leadership at the birthing centre, and a failure to follow established guidelines in place. He committed to writing to all birth centres across London to give recommendations.
“If other birthing centres operate like that three years later, the likelihood is that more children will die as a result of poor care, understaffing, and a lack of leadership and management,” says Martin.
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust apologised to the Kennedy family and said it “fully accepts” the coroner’s findings.
Ruth is now expecting her third child
Tracey Carter, director of midwifery for King’s College, said: “In recent years, we have made positive changes to maternity services at the trust, including a review of midwifery staffing, enhanced training for midwives and ensuring more senior supervision in the department at all times.”
But Martin thinks the same guidance needs to be given to birthing centres across the country, to help avoid future tragedies.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
For now, their focus is on their family, and getting justice for Finn.
“You have to carry on,” Martin says. “You have to pick yourself up and make sure you try and get justice for your children.”
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