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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.

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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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Live reaction to PM’s green policy changes

What are the government’s green policies?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a speech on the plans for net-zero commitments in the briefing room at 10 Downing Street, London. Picture date: Wednesday September 20, 2023.

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.

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‘It shouldn’t be like this’: Full-time workers turning to food banks

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'It shouldn't be like this': Full-time workers turning to food banks

At a community food table in Staffordshire, produce is being handed out for free.

“I need to come here otherwise we’d be living on bread,” Rebecca Flynn told Sky News.

The 51-year-old said: “I’m earning pretty decent money, but it’s not enough.”

Rebecca Flynn
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Rebecca Flynn

It gives you an insight into just how deeply the cost of living crisis is biting – because Rebecca is working full-time as an office manager for a day service for people with learning difficulties.

On top of that, she has a second job going door-to-door on evenings and weekends, selling cosmetics and homeware.

“There’s nothing more I can do. Unless I win the lottery or get another job. It should be noticed that people are in this state,” she says.

“Local councils, local governments, they need to see what’s going on, come to ground level. It’s 2025. It shouldn’t be like this.”

But it’s not just Rebecca working all hours and needing food handouts to survive.

Alex Chapman is the co-founder of the Norton Canes Community Food Table, and says a third of the people who use it are working full-time.

“It’s mad that you’re working a good job and you think you’d be able to afford everything and go on holiday and everything like that, but in reality they’re struggling to put food on the table,” he says.

“We’re seeing a massive increase in the people that are using the food table. We see them in their work outfits. Professionals, nurses – you don’t expect them to be struggling because they’re working full-time. People who aren’t working – you expect them to be struggling. But it’s across the board.”

Cannock Chase
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Cannock Chase

The food table is in Cannock Chase.

Sky News analysis of local authorities gives an insight into why people are feeling dissatisfied their salaries are no longer delivering the comfortable lifestyles they thought hard work and a good job would deliver.

Over the past few years, Cannock Chase has gone from being a middle-class part of Britain to one of the lowest-earning areas in the UK.

In 2021, UK average annual salaries were just short of £26,000 – Cannock Chase was almost identical, according to Sky News analysis of Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Since then, the UK average wage has increased by 21.6% – or more than £5,000 a year – keeping pace with high inflation.

But in Cannock Chase, salaries have only risen by 8.4% – meaning on average people are now £300 worse off per month than the average worker across the UK.

SEE HOW YOUR AREA HAS COPED WITH THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS

It won’t have escaped your attention that prices have gone up, by a lot – by a fifth since 2021, the highest sustained rate since the 1990s – with some of the biggest rises among essentials like energy and food.

But, across the whole country, wages have actually done a pretty good job at keeping up with inflation. The problem is that the wage increase is an average, made up of highs and lows, while the price rises affect us more uniformly.

That means if you haven’t had a pay-rise, you will quite quickly find that you can’t afford as many of the things you used to.

People in places like Brentwood in Essex, the Cotswolds in rural Gloucestershire, and Melton in Leicestershire, have seen their wages increase at twice the rate of prices in the last few years, on average.

But on the other end of the scale are places like Cannock Chase, where inflation has been more than double the rate of wage increases.

It used to be a place where average earnings pretty much exactly reflected the UK midpoint. Now, people in Cannock are about £300 worse-off every month than the average person.

See how your area compares with our look-up.

Louise Schwartz, who has two children, describes herself as middle-class. After 20 years in the classroom she now has three jobs, working 50 hours a week as a teaching coach, at a software firm and giving private music lessons.

Her husband is an estate agent. They have a mortgage and three cars and together earn around £80,000 a year.

She says the family loves travelling together but can’t afford to go on holiday this year: “It makes me feel sad for my kids, more than anything, that we can’t give them a week away.

“We have food on the table, we’ve got heating, we’ve got cars to drive. But there are definitely some luxuries that we’ve cut back on recently.

“We don’t do expensive supermarkets. We don’t do expensive brands. We do whatever’s on offer for that particular week. My eldest son has started driving, which has then had an impact on my daughter’s horse-riding lessons.”

Louise Schwartz
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Louise Schwartz

Louise adds that the family have a hot tub in the garden that they bought years ago, but because of the cost of electricity, they don’t use it.

I ask her: “What does it say that a teacher and an estate agent both working full time can’t afford to go on holiday this year?”

She replies: “I think a lot of people might not be surprised by that because I think people are probably in a similar position but maybe we just don’t talk about it.”

Full-time workers tell us again and again they thought their lifestyles would be more comfortable – that the work ethic would be delivering more than it is.

Heidi Boot
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Heidi Boot

It seems the dissatisfaction is not only what one person described as “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, but also the lack of what people refer to as “pleasure money”.

Heidi Boot is what you might call the backbone of the middle classes – running a small business full-time called HB Aesthetics, a salon that does eyebrows, eyelashes and nails.

“I feel like everybody is stretching their appointments. People are working so hard for their money and they’ve got nothing to show for it. They’ve paid all their bills and now they’ve got nothing left to spend on themselves,” she says.

“It shouldn’t be that way. But because I see it all the time I feel like it’s just the normal now.”

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The constituency of Cannock Chase has always voted the way of the country – and at the last election showed significant support for Reform.

The financial woes will worry the government, which insists it’s taking action to give workers more money in their pockets.

But there’s no denying the despairing mood of middle England in the political battlegrounds that brought Labour to power.

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‘Shocking and brutal’ on priest may be linked to man’s murder

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'Shocking and brutal' on priest may be linked to man's murder

A man’s death may be linked to a “brutal” attack on a priest in a church, police have said.

Officers have begun a murder investigation after receiving a report that a man was found dead in Co Down.

The discovery was made at an address in the Marian Park area of Downpatrick at about 12pm on Sunday.

Police have arrested a 30-year-old man on suspicion of murder and he is in custody.

This comes after a priest was left in a serious condition in hospital following a “brutal attack” in a church in Downpatrick on Sunday morning.

It was reported to police that at about 10.10am, a man walked into St Patrick’s Church and hit Fr John Murray on the head with a bottle.

Superintendent Norman Haslett, district commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, said officers suspect the murder may be linked to the attack on the priest.

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“Inquiries are at an early stage and, at this time, we suspect this may be connected to a serious assault in the St Patrick’s Avenue area of Downpatrick on Sunday,” he said.

Detective Chief Inspector David McBurney said it was a “brutal attack” on the priest and appealed for people with information to come forward.

Sinn Fein MP for South Down, Chris Hazzard, said the attack on the priest and the death of the man in Downpatrick were “deeply shocking”.

“The death of a man, along with the vicious attack on Fr Murray in St Patrick’s Church, has deeply saddened and horrified the local community,” he said.

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DUP MLA for South Down, Diane Forsythe, condemned the “disgraceful attack on a religious leader in a place of worship”.

Of the two incidents, she said: “There is no place for violent attacks in our society.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the entire community as they process this devastating murder as well as the serious assault earlier today.”

Alliance South Down MLA Andrew McMurray said the incidents had left many in the local community “in shock on what should be a day of peace and rest”.

Anyone with information about the man’s death or the assault on the priest is urged to contact the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

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UK weather: Hottest day of heatwave revealed – with 10% chance temperatures will hit 35C

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UK weather: Hottest day of heatwave revealed - with 10% chance temperatures will hit 35C

A yellow heat health alert is in place from midday for most of England, with temperatures expected to peak in the mid-30s tomorrow.

Parts of the country are facing a fourth heatwave of the summer, where highs pass a threshold on three consecutive days.

Check the weather forecast where you are

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July: Why does it feel hotter in the UK?

Sky News meteorologist Christopher England said the high pressure that brought the warmth of the last few days via the “heat dome” effect is moving east, as low pressure moves in towards the west.

This will bring even warmer air up from the near continent, making it hotter for most over the next few days.

“Southern Britain can expect temperatures widely into the low 30s then, perhaps exceeding 35C (95F) in places,” Mr England said.

“There’s around a 10% chance Wales may exceed its august peak temperature of 35.2C recorded at Hawarden on 2 August 1990.”

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He also predicts “some very muggy nights” in the South, with temperatures quite widely holding above 20C (68F) in towns and cities, known as “tropical nights”.

A yellow health alert is in place from 12pm on Monday through to Wednesday evening for most of England – covering all regions except for the North West and North East.

The warning issued by the UK Health Security Agency means it expects heat-related issues such as an increase in deaths of over-65s, a higher demand on health services and an increased risk of overheating for vulnerable people.

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Drought in England explained

The Met Office’s criteria for a heatwave are met when temperatures are above a certain level for three consecutive days. This threshold varies from 25C to 28C (77F to 82F) depending on location.

Meteorologist Tom Morgan said there would be a “North-South split in the weather” today.

He said it would be “quite cloudy across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England, the rain tending to come and go, but most persistent in western Scotland”.

The remnants of ex-tropical storm Dexter has headed towards the UK from the Atlantic.

This could bring the potential of rain and thunderstorms tonight and into tomorrow.

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