Rishi Sunak has been in the role for almost a year. He was never elected and succeeded the clumsy Prime Minister Liz Truss by 45 days. Now the British head of government wants to reinvent himself and be the “candidate of change”, because everyone looks when, in the middle of the global climate crisis, a country says: Slow down now! No more irrational demands on drivers, because, after all, driving is freedom. And speed limits of around 30 kilometers per hour in urban areas, as recently announced in Wales, are completely wrong.
In London, Prime Minister Sunak’s Conservative Conservatives recently protested against the expansion of the low emissions zone – and thus unexpectedly retained former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s constituency in a by-election. The theme is moving, they seem to conclude.
Britain wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.
August 3, 2023 | 01:56 minutes
So now this applies. The party’s strategists have turned on the machine and Sunak has repeatedly explained that he is not questioning the legal climate target of wanting to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It just needs to be done differently so that citizens who are already struggling don’t have to pay yet more. Pragmatically and realistically, the Prime Minister is quick to describe what others are complaining about as a worrying change in climate policy.
The ban on the sale of combustion engines was postponed from 2030 to 2035. As was the deadline originally set for replacing private oil and gas heating systems. At the same time, Sunak questions the future of the costly expansion of a key rail line to the north of the country. The “High Speed 2” train route between Birmingham and Manchester could be canceled – while Sunak stresses that lots of money is also needed to improve the roads.
The prestigious HS2 railway project with high-speed trains, which aims to connect the north of the country to the capital, is at risk of failure.
September 28, 2023 | 02:15 minutes
And as if all this wasn’t enough, the government is allowing new oil and gas production in the far north, off the Shetland Islands. This is how we need to act, argues Sunak, to be in agreement with the majority of citizens.
Greenpeace is not the only one who is against it, calling new oil production “reckless.” Continuing to rely on fossil fuels is negative for energy security, the cost of living and the climate. Members of the Conservative party also go behind the scenes in front of the cameras, such as Richard Walker, boss of the British supermarket chain Iceland: The party is “out of touch” – both with the economy and with the people who work for it.
A woman has opened a pop-up food bank for people in need near her home in south London.
September 6, 2023 | 02:03 minutes
As expected, Fraser Nelson, editor-in-chief of the conservative Spectator magazine, defended Sunak’s move to the BBC: It is completely right to stand with the masses and fight the climate lobbyists.
The fact that climate protection makes life even more expensive is something that conservatives want to take away from citizens. But will it work? Sunak juggles ahead of party conference. And he will have to provide information in his speech. YouGov sees his personal poll numbers at a low point: 68% of Brits currently think he is an unfavorable choice. Only 23 percent think anything of him.
The BBC also asked about associations with Rishi Sunak – and came up with the most frequently mentioned descriptions for him at the start of the Tory party conference: “Rich people” is at the top. Which absolutely applies to the head of government and his wife, a billionaire. This shouldn’t make it easier to transform into an understanding of little people.