Rishi Sunak is considering weakening some of the government’s key green commitments in a major policy shift.
It could include delaying a ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars and phasing out gas boilers, multiple sources have told the BBC.
The PM is preparing to set out the changes in a speech in the coming days.
There is no suggestion that Mr Sunak is considering abandoning the legal commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
But he is expected to declare that other countries need to bear more of the burden of dealing with climate change.
It all ends up at the answer @MapTheft gave you but to understand what’s happening here in a bit more detail:
The Conservatives are very unpopular and are going to lose the next election. They know this and so they’re looking to improve their position so a) they don’t lose as badly as they might otherwise and b) be in a position to capitalise on the next Labour government’s unpopularity.
Obviously they aren’t going to do this by stopping from acting like cunts so their options are somewhat limited.
Recently they won a by-election that everyone thought they’d lose and it is generally thought that what swung it in their favour was opposition to ULEZ, a clean air initiative which disproportionately affects poor drivers. It’s probably a necessary measure to protect the health of Londoners but the way it is implemented means that people will be out of pocket.
The Tories, casting around for easy answers have decided that the public don’t like ‘green’ measures. So if they drag their feet on these proposed changes, their rich mates in the oil sector will like them and shower them with money come election time and beyond and they think that when Labour inevitably have to bring the measures back they will be unpopular and this will give the Tories a chance to make ground the election after next.
Fuck the science, fuck the environment, fuck the poor, fuck international scientific consensus and fuck any kind of global progress, it’s all about electoral calculus by a bunch of morally corrupt shitcunts.
Thanks for the nuanced answer. It sucks how any progress is halted around the world because everything revolves around winning elections.
…I wish politicians would do what they believe is best for the country/world instead of their party… dammit
The Tories have never had the interests of the UK population in mind let alone that of foreigners. They exist for one reason, to line their pockets and those of their donors. They get votes the same way the US GOP does: channeling hatred of “other” and promising things they rarely deliver.