Rishi Sunak to DELAY ‘bankrupting’ ban on petrol & diesel car sales in huge win for The Sun’s Give Us A Brake campaign
RISHI Sunak is set to delay a 2030 ban on petrol and diesel car sales by five years - marking a massive victory for The Sun's Give Us A Brake campaign.
The PM promised a "better, more proportionate way" of reaching Net Zero that did not punish hard-pressed families.
And Home Secretary Suella Braverman today suggested an early ban on petrol cars would "bankrupt British people" as she hailed Rishi Sunak for delaying the hated policy.
She told Sky News: "Fundamentally, we’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people.
"We need to put economic growth and household costs first.
"We need to put the cost of living first."
The phasing out of gas boilers is also expected to be softened to stop Brits forking out for expensive eco upgrades.
The PM said successive governments "have not been honest about costs and trade offs" of going green.
In a late-night statement the Tory leader said: "As a first step, I’ll be giving a speech this week to set out an important long-term decision we need to make so our country becomes the place I know we all want it to be for our children.”
Tory MPs last night cheered the rethink as "positive news" for Brits already grappling with the cost of living.
READ MORE ON POLITICS
After news of his climbdown was leaked, the PM got on the front foot with a message to voters.
He said: “I know people are frustrated with politics and want real change. Our political system rewards short-term decision-making that is holding our country back.
"For too many years politicians in governments of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade offs. Instead they have taken the easy way out, saying we can have it all.
“This realism doesn’t mean losing our ambition or abandoning our commitments. Far from it. I am proud that Britain is leading the world on climate change.
"We are committed to Net Zero by 2050 and the agreements we have made internationally - but doing so in a better, more proportionate way.
“Our politics must again put the long-term interests of our country before the short-term political needs of the moment.
“No leak will stop me beginning the process of telling the country how and why we need to change.”
A huge scaling back will reportedly see him push back both the phasing out of gas boilers and sale of non-electric vehicles.
Downing Street last night insisted Mr Sunak is committed to hitting Net Zero by 2050 but did not deny plans to curb the existing environmental pledges.
In a speech in the coming days Mr Sunak is set to trumpet Britain’s progress while calling out laggard countries who are failing to curb emissions.
He is expected to kick back the ban on the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars from 2030 to 2035, just weeks after saying he would not budge.
An aim to completely get rid of gas boilers by 2035 will also be diluted to just 80 per cent of them gone.
Most read in The Sun
And proposed costly energy efficiency regulations on homes will also be scrapped, while the 2035 ban on off-grid boilers also delayed, according to the BBC.
Ministers have been under pressure from Tory MPs to soften their eco drive for fear it will cost them at the next election.
Scores have backed The Sun's Give Us A Brake Campaign to spare motorists paying the price of politicians' eco ambitions.
A flagship demand is to delay the 2030 ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars until the country is ready.
Ex-Cabinet Minister Sir John Redwood last night said delaying the eco pledges would mark a “treble win” for Brits.
He told the Sun: “What you do with the petrol and diesel ban is actually increase Co2 emissions because people will just import cars from other countries.
“It’s bad for the environment, bad for British industry and bad for families being thumped by the policies. So ditching it would be a treble win.
“We simply must not be punishing the wrong people with these policies.”
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay told the Sun: "If reports of a delay to the rollout of unrealistic Net Zero measures are to be believed this is positive news for UK consumers.
"It will make previous pie in the sky ‘greenwash’ deadlines into something more achievable.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"It will give the opportunity for technology to prove itself in the free market rather than being told this or that is to banned, what to buy and when.
"We’ll leave those arguments of state control to Labour. This additionally matches with the timetables of competitor countries. I'm pleased to see sensible pragmatism from the PM."