Delays to climate targets will cost renters and drivers more money, government advisers conclude
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent delay to key climate targets will actually cost many households more, rather than saving them money as he claimed, his own climate advisers have concluded.
In a major speech last month, Mr Sunak pushed back the end of new petrol and diesel car sales from 2030 to 2035, and scrapped a plan to make landlords improve the energy efficiency of their properties, which would have saved renters money on bills.
He also exempted some households from replacing gas boilers with a greener alternative, as part of a “pragmatic” rethink on the cost of the UK’s net zero climate policies.
Amid scepticism over the prime minister’s claims he was saving homes thousands of pounds, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), ran the numbers on the impact on people’s pockets.
It found renters will have to pay more for energy in less efficient homes, while drivers who move to electric cars later rather than sooner will face higher costs through their vehicle’s lifetime.
Professor Piers Forster, chair of the CCC, said: “Our position as a global leader on climate has come under renewed scrutiny following the prime minister’s speech.
“We urge the government to restate strong British leadership on climate change in the crucial period before the next climate summit, COP28 in Dubai.”
Mr Sunak said the government remained committed to net zero by 2050, which means cutting emissions as much as possible and offsetting the rest.
The CCC, which had in June already warned the UK was moving too slowly to meet its climate targets, said the prime minister had failed to provide any evidence to prove the new changes were compatible.
“We remain concerned about the likelihood of achieving the UK’s future targets,” Prof Forster added.
Whereas the government’s policy had been to phase out all new gas boilers in buildings by 2035 and replace them with heat pumps or other low-carbon methods, Mr Sunak’s speech in September announced that 20% of households would be exempt, to save steep costs on households that couldn’t afford it.
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Professor Rob Gross, director of UK Energy Research Centre, told Sky News: “Overall the CCC response makes clear that the commitments made by government created a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure – ambitious targets, inadequate delivery policy, and ultimately the conclusion that policies needed to be abandoned.
“If the government knew for years that some people would be negatively impacted then they could have made provision to protect those people rather than roll-back on targets.”
In its analysis, the CCC welcomed some other recent government climate policies, such as the new mandate on Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV), which should see 80% of new cars sold with zero emissions by 2030.
It said the ZEV mandate will likely offset Mr Sunak’s delay to selling fossil fuel cars, but warned the change could weaken business and consumer confidence in the industry.
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Government set ‘unrealistic target’
In response to the delayed ban on petrol and diesel cars, manufacturer Ford said business “needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three”.
Richard Hebditch, UK director of transport and environment, echoed the CCC’s fears about a hit to business confidence, saying: “We need to give not just vehicle manufacturers, but critical material suppliers and charging infrastructure installers, absolute confidence in what we’re aiming for and when.”
This would yield more investment, better charging and cheaper options for consumers, ultimately “making the switch to electric vehicles a complete no-brainer for people,” he said.
John Flesher, deputy director of the Conservative Environment Network, said: “The prime minister is right that we need to bring people with us on the road to net zero.
“Expecting too much from households could undermine the country’s current consensus on the need to act on climate change.”
In the same week Labour made climate action a key part of its pitch to voters, Mr Flesher added: “Conservatives cannot afford to lose their grip on the net zero narrative and must present a compelling, market-based route to net zero.”
As the issue that remains popular with voters, the PM should “harness the party’s environmental reputation to help build a popular and positive narrative going into the next election and not allow Labour to dominate this issue”, Mr Flesher said.
Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has told Sky News that Britain is ready for a change of government after scolding the Conservatives over their handling of the economy and immigration after Brexit.
While insisting his petrochemicals conglomerate INEOS is apolitical, Sir Jim backed Brexit and spent last weekend with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Manchester United – the football club he now runs as minority owner.
“I’m sure Keir will do a very good job at running the country – I have no questions about that,” Sir Jim said in an exclusive interview.
“There’s no question that the Conservatives have had a good run,” he added. “I think most of the country probably feels it’s time for a change. And I sort of get that, really.”
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Sir Jim was a prominent backer of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum but now has issues with how Brexit was delivered by Tory prime ministers.
“Brexit sort of unfortunately didn’t turn out as people anticipated because… Brexit was largely about immigration,” Sir Jim said.
“That was the biggest component of that vote. People were getting fed up with the influx of the city of Southampton coming in every year. I think last year it was two times Southampton.
“I mean, no small island like the UK could cope with vast numbers of people coming into the UK.
“I mean, it just overburdens the National Health Service, the traffic service, the police, everybody.
“The country was designed for 55 or 60 million people and we’ve got 70 million people and all the services break down as a consequence.
“That’s what Brexit was all about and nobody’s implemented that. They just keep talking about it. But nothing’s been done, which is why I think we’ll finish up with the change of government.”
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UK needs to get ‘sharper on the business front’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated an election is due this year but Monaco-based Sir Jim is unimpressed by the Conservatives’ handling of the economy.
“The UK does need to get a bit sharper on the business front,” he said. “I think the biggest objective for the government is to create growth in the economy.
“There’s two parts of the economy, there’s the services side of the economy and there’s the manufacturing side. And the manufacturing, unfortunately, has been sliding away now for the last 25 years.
“We were very similar in scale to Germany probably 25 years ago.
“But today we’re just a fraction of where Germany is and I think that isn’t healthy for the British economy… particularly when you think the north of England is very manufacturing based, and that talks to things like energy competitiveness, it talks to things like, why do you put an immensely high tax on the North Sea?
“That just disincentivises people from finding hydrocarbons in the North Sea, in energy.
“And what we need is competitive energy. So I mean, in America, in the energy world, in the oil and gas world, they just apply a corporation tax to the oil and gas companies, which is about 30%. And in the UK we’ve got this tax of 75% because we want to kill off the oil and gas companies.
“But if we don’t have competitive energy, we’re not going to have a healthy manufacturing industry. And that just makes no sense to me at all. No.”
‘We’re apolitical’
Asked about INEOS donating to Labour, Sir Jim replied: “We’re apolitical, INEOS.
“We just want a successful manufacturing sector in the UK and we’ve talked to the government about that. It’s pretty clear about our views.”
Sir Jim was keener to talk about the economy and politics than his role at struggling Manchester United, which he bought a 27.7% stake in from the American Glazer family in February – giving him an even higher business profile.
Old Trafford stadium in Manchester. Pic: AP
Push for stadium of the North
He is continuing to push for public funds to regenerate Old Trafford and the surrounding areas despite no apparent political support being forthcoming. Sir Keir was hosted at the stadium for a Premier League match last weekend just as heavy rain exposed the fragility of the ageing venue.
“There’s a very good case, in my view, for having a stadium of the North, which would serve the northern part of the country in that arena of football,” Sir Jim said. “If you look at the number of Champions League the North West has won, it’s 10. London has won two.
“And yet everybody from the North has to get down to London to watch a big football match. And there should be one [a large stadium] in the North, in my view.
“But it’s also important for the southern side of Manchester, you know, to regenerate.
“It’s the sort of second capital of the country where the Industrial Revolution began.
“But if you have a regeneration project, you need a nucleus or a regeneration project and having that world-class stadium there, I think would provide the impetus to regenerate that region.”
Marks & Spencer’s website and app has not been working for several hours, with a message telling shoppers “you can’t shop with us right now”.
“We’re working hard to be back online as soon as possible,” it adds.
All the menus and images have disappeared apart from one showing a model in a green jacket.
Customers trying to use the app got the message: “Sorry you can’t shop through the app right now. We’re busy making some planned changes, but will be back soon.”
The site is understood to have been down for several hours.
Replying to one customer on X, the retailer said: “We’re experiencing some technical issues but we are working on it.”
M&S is the latest high street name to have technical issues – last month some Sainsbury’s shoppers had problems with their online orders.
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The outage comes a few days before M&S is expected to reveal a big jump in annual profits.
It’s been a successful year for the brand, with strong sales across the business following a turnaround plan that has included store closures and cost cutting.
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