Braverman: net zero will not be at expense of ‘bankrupting the British people’

Rishi Sunak will not “save the planet by bankrupting the British people”, the home secretary has said as she rejected claims that the government is backing away from its net zero commitments.

Suella Braverman said she was proud of what the government had achieved over the past 10 years and commended the prime minister for making “difficult decisions” before his expected move to weaken environmental policies.

The plan to water down key green policies, expected to be announced in a major speech on Friday, could include delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and weakening the policy to phase out gas boilers.

Sunak’s intention to drive a “green wedge” between Labour and the Conservatives has already opened rifts within his party, with Chris Skidmore, the outgoing Tory MP and former minister who wrote a review of the Tories’ net zero approach, warning of the economic consequences.

Braverman told Times Radio: “We’ve achieved a huge amount in the last decade … but ultimately, we have to adopt a pragmatic approach, a proportionate approach, and one that also serves our goals. And we’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people.

“I commend the prime minister for making difficult decisions, putting the interests of the economy first, putting the interests of British workers first, putting the interests of household costs first. That’s how we’re going to grow the economy. That’s how we’re going to protect people’s livelihoods.”

The prime minister is also expected to drop plans for new energy efficiency targets for private rented homes after ministers considered imposing fines on landlords who failed to upgrade their properties.

The home secretary refused to say whether the government had spoken to the electric car industry before shifting the government’s net zero stance, adding: “We’re only going to achieve that net zero target whereby people and the British people can go about their daily lives using their cars, using the facilities that are available to them, in a pragmatic way.”

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said delaying the ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans could lead motorists to not switching to electric vehicles because the overall message was “confusing”.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s a bit of a concern really. The industry has and continues to invest billions of pounds into these new technologies, electrified vehicles, battery vehicles, both abroad and here in the UK.

“And indeed, the government has backed the industry with investments into Tata’s battery plant in Somerset, Cowley for BMW, so we’re questioning what is the strategy here, because we need to shift the mobility of road transport away from fossil fuels towards sustainable transport.

“We don’t quite know what’s going to happen now.”

On Tuesday the prime minister said the government remained committed to the net zero target but planned to hit it in a “better, more proportionate” way.

He said politicians of “all the stripes” had not been honest about “costs and trade offs”. In an apparent dig at Boris Johnson, he accused previous governments of taking “the easy way out, saying we can have it all”.

Sunak recommitted to the target of net zero emissions by 2050, insisting his government was not “losing our ambition or abandoning our commitments” on climate change.