UK is well off its climate pledges, which is why green groups are horrified by Sunak’s huge gamble
The prime minister is kicking the green can down the road.
In the short term, a delay to expensive zero carbon measures may be popular with some voters and, he hopes, see the Tories into another term in office.
But the UK is already falling behind on the pace needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that’s why green groups are horrified.
This isn’t just about net zero in 2050. There are tough milestones along the way, and some are soon.
By 2030 the UK has an international obligation to reduce emissions by 68% from 1990 levels.
That’s less than seven years away and Rishi Sunak says he remains committed to the target.
At the moment we are well off track.
According to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), emissions have fallen by 46% since 1990.
Much of that is down to the power sector, which has been exiting expensive fossil fuels as fast as it can. Wind and solar are now so much cheaper than gas.
Strip out electricity generation, though and UK emissions are falling by just 1.2% a year.
That needs to quadruple to stay on track with the carbon targets, the CCC said.
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Several policies have been changed.
So delaying the ban on new petrol and diesel cars, and relaxing the transition away from gas boilers, would seem to put the targets even further out of reach.
The prime minister is banking on technology and the market saving us.
Improving technology and efficiencies of scale are predicted to reduce the cost of an electric vehicle (EV) to the same as a petrol or diesel car sometime this decade.
If the range also increases as predicted, and the charging network is expanded in step with EV sales, then the barriers to driving electric start to crumble and emissions fall.
Ford, Fiat, Peugeot, Volvo and Vauxhall are among several car companies that have said they will stop selling vehicles with an internal combustion engine by 2030.
They’re sticking to their business plan even if the political target slides.
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Technology and the market could also help decarbonise home heating, despite the weaker net zero plan.
At the moment, heat pumps are expensive and work best in well-insulated homes with underfloor heating.
But new models can heat radiators to the same high temperatures as gas boilers. And if costs to purchase and run the pumps fall, then gas boilers start to look like dated technology.
Relying on the market to cut emissions is a huge gamble though.
It has reduced the cost of solar and wind technology by 85% since 2010, but there may be reasons – a shortage of lithium for car batteries, for example – that keep the price of EVs high.
If the market doesn’t deliver, then the government will have to play catch-up.
And technology alone won’t get us to net zero. There will need to be some change to our lifestyles, such as eating less meat – which might be good for our health as well as the planet – but that will need political leadership.
The rapidly changing climate is a sure sign that emissions need to come down fast.
We’ve had another year of extreme weather, with lives lost and a big clean-up bill.
And that’s with global temperatures up just 1.1C since the Industrial Revolution.
Currently, emissions targets put the world on course for a rise of 2.8C.
The more governments waver on net zero plans, the worse climate change and the higher the adaptation costs are likely to be.
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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