Sparked by its narrow win in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election – a battle fought and won by the Conservatives’ opposition to London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme – some in the party are calling for a rethink of their current climate commitments, with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg claiming they are “unpopular” and “expensive”.

Downing Street has confirmed ministers are scrutinising existing pledges “in light of some of the cost of living challenges”.

And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hinted at a watering down of proposals, saying measures must be “proportionate and pragmatic”, instead of adding cost and “hassle” to households.

But others from both the Tory benches and the opposition warn any rollback would not only add to the damage caused to the planet, but see the UK fail to cash in on the jobs, industry and investment offered by green technologies.

So what are the current pledges from the government that could be facing either delays or the axe?

Reaching net zero by 2050

The overarching promise from the Conservative government was to ensure the UK reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from 1990 levels by 2050.

The measure was made law by Theresa May in the dying days of her premiership back in 2019 and it was backed by Boris Johnson throughout his time in Number 10.

But when Liz Truss entered Downing Street, she ordered a review into the target – though her stint ended before it came to pass – showing not everyone in the party was onboard.

Mr Sunak has insisted he is committed to the pledge.

But questions have been raised over whether the government is doing enough to even meet the target, with the Climate Change Committee warning progress had been “worryingly slow”, and time is “very short” to correct the path.

Phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2030

In 2020, then prime minister Mr Johnson made a commitment to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK after 2030 – bringing the target forward by 10 years.

The £12bn plan promised to accelerate the rollout of charge points for electric vehicles, as well as the development and mass production of electric vehicle batteries, in an attempt to lower emissions and clean up the air.

Number 10 has said Mr Sunak is committed to the 2030 date, but hinted the ban is to be kept under review to ensure it hits that “proportionate and pragmatic” goal as technology evolves.

However, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove later doubled down on keeping it in place, saying the target is “immoveable”.

Energy efficient landlords

Another pledge made by Mr Johnson in 2020 was to ensure all private rented homes had an energy efficiency rating of C or better – where A is the best and G is the worst – by 2028.

While the plan could be costly for landlords, it would lead to a reduction in bills for many renters and stop leaky homes adding to emissions.

But this is one proposal that looks to set to have a pin put in it.

Mr Gove, the former environment secretary who is now the minister in charge of housing, said he wanted to see the government “relax the pace” of the 2028 deadline, adding: “We’re asking too much too quickly”.

Another target that may be pushed back is ensuring all new homes are built with an alternative to a gas boiler – such as a heat pump – after 2025.

The measure will not impact people who already have gas boilers in their homes, or stop them from replacing like for like, as it will only be a rule for developers building properties.

However, making the move will cut emissions from new buildings and again help towards hitting that net zero target.

There is a wider ambition for all new heating system installations to be low carbon by 2035, with a pot of £450m to help with household grants.

But again, the government has insisted people will not be forced to remove their existing fossil fuel boilers.

Now, Downing Street has hinted these dates could change as part of a review of their policies as the cost would hit people’s pockets.

Hydrogen levy

Another move that already appears to have been shelved is the introduction of an annual levy to cover the cost of producing low-carbon hydrogen, instead of using fossil fuels, for energy at home.

The fee – which was expected to cost households around £118 a year – was due to be added to bills in 2025, and would help cut emissions by cleaning up the energy market.

But Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps has made numerous protestations about the cost being borne by people rather than companies, and has pledged numerous times to find another way of funding the change.

What about the other parties?

As mentioned earlier, most of this debate has been brought about by the result of the Uxbridge by-election which, before Thursday’s vote, seemed like a safe bet for Labour to seize.

However, the Conservatives managed to turn the campaign into a referendum on the expansion of ULEZ to the outer boroughs of London – a policy from the capital’s Labour mayor to clean up air quality, but with a cost to drivers of £12.50 a day.

Having initially stood by the plan – and Sadiq Khan – Labour is now making a lot of noise about reviewing the policy and asking the mayor to “reflect” on its impact on voters.

Yet, the party is still is making much of its green credentials, with one of Sir Keir Starmer’s missions for government to “make Britain a green energy super power”.

Labour said, if it got into power, it would cut bills and increase energy security by making all electricity zero-carbon by 2030, and carry out upgrades to 19 million homes to make sure they are insulated.

It would also create a new publicly owned company called GB Energy, tasked with championing clean energy, increasing jobs and building better supply chains.

But Labour has backtracked on its £28bn a year investment pledge to accelerate the shift towards net zero, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves blaming rising interest rates and the “damage” the Conservatives had done to the economy since the announcement was made.

The Liberal Democrats have a raft of green policy proposals, including upgrading insulation in all existing homes by 2030 and ensuring all new builds are “eco friendly”.

Other measures include investing to get 80% of the UK’s electricity from green energy by 2030, and creating a £20bn Clean Air Fund to create walking and cycling routes to schools, and invest in pollution-free public transport.

Source: Sky News

The post What are the Conservatives’ green policies – and what could be scrapped? appeared first on Policy Print.

The group wants to focus on migration, law and order and ‘woke’ issues. Will No.10 listen?

LONDON — Watch out Rishi Sunak, there’s a new right-wing Tory pressure group in town.

The New Conservatives — a group of 25 MPs from the 2017 and 2019 parliamentary intakes — launched Monday with a headline-grabbing call for the Tory prime minister to do more to cut migration.

They’re urging Sunak — already under pressure over the issue — to focus on meeting his predecessor-but-one Boris Johnson’s 2019 manifesto pledge to get net numbers to below 226,000. So who are the New Conservatives? And what exactly do they want?

The new group is run by Danny Kruger, a former aide to Johnson, and Miriam Cates, a backer of Home Secretary Suella Braverman when she ran for the Tory leadership last year.

Other members of the group include backbenchers Tom Hunt, Jonathan Gullis, Gareth Bacon, Duncan Kaker, Paul Bristow, Brendan Clarke-Smith, James Daly, Anna Firth, Nick Fletcher, Chris Green, Eddie Hughes, Mark Jenkinson, Andrew Lewer, Marco Longhi, Robin Millar, and Lia Nici.

Lee Anderson, the pugnacious former Labour aide turned Tory deputy chairman, was conspicuously absent from the event — and all literature — despite being part of the group and billed to speak right up until late last night. Stand-in Kruger insisted “he’s unwell in bed” but also “doesn’t officially endorse policy proposals” due to his party role.

Eagle-eyed readers will note that this list does not tot up to the advertised 25.

When asked about this at the press conference, Hunt said there were a “wide group of MPs who are supportive of our work,” but that those listed are the ones specifically endorsing the migration policies presented today.

So what do they want?

Cates kicked off the group’s launch event in Westminster by making it pretty clear that the group’s immediate focus is on migration — though there’s clearly plenty more to come.

Her message to Sunak? “The choice is this: cut immigration, keep our promise to voters, and restore democratic, cultural and economic security, or kick the can down the road, lose the next election, and resign ourselves to a low growth, low-wage, labor-intensive service economy with a population forecast to rise by another 20 million in the next 25 years.”

The New Conservatives outlined a 12-point-plan Monday that they claim will do just that. But some of its key recommendations are likely to prove contentious.

Perhaps the most headline-grabbing point is a call to scrap Health and Care Visas, launched to fill gaps in the health and social care sector with overseas workers. The group says this will cut the number of new visas issued by 117,000 and reduce long-term international migration by 82,000.

But big questions remain over exactly how the resultant gaps in the health and social care workforce would be filled with British recruits. UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said the government has “done nothing to solve the growing crisis in care. Now a group of its MPs want ministers to make things a whole lot worse.”

Beyond that pledge, the New Conservatives also want to reserve university study visas for only the “brightest” international students; stop overseas graduates staying for up to two years in the U.K. without a job; and place stricter limits on social housing being allocated to migrants.

They also want to “rapidly implement” the government’s Illegal Migration Bill, which — given its mauling in the House of Lords Monday — may be a tough ask.

Are they rivals to Rishi?

The group sternly rejects the notion that they’re here to cause trouble for the prime minister, with Daly telling assembled journalists Monday that he’s “depressed” by questions of rivalry.

Just to hammer the point home, Daly added that “every single person here today supports the prime minister.”

But they’re undoubtedly a thorn in Sunak’s side as the next election looms.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson insisted Monday that the government’s plans on migration don’t need toughening up. “We have to strike the right balance between tackling net migration and taking the people we need,” the spokesperson said, adding “we believe they strike the right balance currently. We keep our migration policies under review.”

Is this just about migration?

So far — but expect to hear plenty more from the group in the coming months.

Speaking to POLITICO, Hunt said he sees the group focusing on three main issues: migration; law and order; and what they see as the threat to Britain from “woke” ideas.

Hunt stressed that he wants the outfit to be “dipping their toes” into anti-woke issues “generally as a push-back, rather than waking up every morning and thinking ‘right, what’s our next big culture war wedge issue?’” So expect some anti-woke seasoning sprinkled on the New Conservatives’ main course.

Hunt says he’s animated by what he sees as “wokeness” in schools, and a preponderance of “self-loathing in this country.”

“I get concerned when I see the odd poll that says the majority of 18-25-year-olds see Churchill as a villain rather than a hero,” he said. That doesn’t mean the group will call for Britain to start “glossing over the past and saying we’ve always got it right,” he added — but recognizing that “in a struggle of Russia and China, we’re a damn sight better than them.”

So will this agenda help the Tories win in 2024 — or recover afterwards?

Polls suggest the Tories are on course to lose the next election, and badly. The New Conservatives want their ideas featured in the 2024 election manifesto, and believe they have the agenda to connect with working-class voters in the so-called Red Wall seats Johnson snatched from Labour in 2019 and which now look vulnerable.

Cates told the audience gathered in Westminster Monday that: “We want to win, of course we do, but it’s more than that. It’s because we believe that we still have, despite everything, the best chance of delivering for the British people.” She said of the party’s 2019 platform: “The demand for that offer is still there. We want to fulfill it.”

Not all Tories are convinced. Conservative commentator John Oxley argued that the New Conservatives’ impact may be short-lived.

It is, he said, “dominated by the sort of 2019, Red Wall MPs who are very likely to lose their seats next time around. They may be trying to sway the manifesto in a way that helps them, or mark themselves out as immigration hardliners to try and buck the national trend, but it seems unlikely to have much sway with Rishi Sunak.”

And he warned: “Equally, it seems unlikely this group will have much impact on the future of the Conservative Party, as so many of them will be out of parliament when that discussion begins after the election.”

Source: Politico

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