PUT GROWTH FIRST
“We absolutely remain committed to delivering net zero by 2050 in line with our international agreements,” she said, adding that “we also need to adopt an approach of pragmatism and proportionality”.
“We need to put economic growth first, we need to put household costs and budgets first, we need to put the cost of living first,” she added.
The government’s expected net zero rethink sparked anger among opposition lawmakers, environmental campaigners and some Conservative MPs, setting up a possible rift in Sunak’s party.
In July, Sunak approved hundreds of new oil and gas licences in the North Sea off Britain’s east coast, angering environmentalists.
Former COP26 president and Conservative lawmaker Alok Sharma warned that “for any party to resile from this agenda will not help economically or electorally.”
Chris Skidmore, a Conservative former energy minister who recently led a review on net zero for the government, said Sunak “still has time to think again and not make the greatest mistake of his premiership.”
Reports suggested that some MPs may even be preparing letters of no confidence should Sunak go ahead with the move.
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said “this decision would be economically illiterate, historically inaccurate and environmentally bone-headed.”
Ed Miliband, Labour’s spokesman for energy, called it a “complete farce from a Tory government that literally does not know what they are doing day to day.”
“Sunak is taking the public for fools. He claims he’s helping ordinary people by playing politics with the climate, but we know the real winners will be big corporations like the oil and gas lobby,” said Greenpeace UK’s policy director Doug Parr.
Source: CNA
