Rishi Sunak defended his net zero u-turn during an acrimonious interview with the BBC’s Nick Robinson on the Today programme. The Prime Minister, who yesterday pushed back the ban on new petrol and diesel cars to 2035, insisted that: ‘I believe in net zero and I want to deliver it’. But Sunak came in for a tough time answering questions about plans to scrap proposals – including a meat tax – which have never been formally announced:
Nick Robinson: ‘Hold on a second, PM. You stand up with the authority of Prime Minister in this building and you say you’re scrapping a series of proposals and when I ask you about them, you say that somebody considered (it) and it was in the appendix of this document. There’s nothing to be scrapped.’
Sunak: ‘I reject that entirely. These are all things that have been raised by very credible people. ‘
NR: ‘It’s all about politics. You’re making a series of claims that aren’t true.’
Sunak: ‘No this is absolutely about doing what I believe to be in the long-term interests of our country.’
Sunak also used the interview to take a pop at his predecessors over net zero, insisting that: ‘I could take the easy way out. That’s what politicians have done previously’.
Mr Steerpike thinks that will go down well with Boris Johnson…
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