Tories must get behind the PM’s green pragmatism, and prepare for a Brexit-style battle in the courts
Was I wrong about Rishi Sunak? Does he still, despite everything, have what it takes? In a dramatic move that may yet upend British politics, the Prime Minister has declared war on the green establishment, torn up the cross-party, fanatical consensus on how to achieve net zero, defied the useful idiots within his own party – including many of his closest allies – and promised a gentler, more humane, more sophisticated environmentalism committed to protecting consumers. It was the best speech he has ever given, and the first indication that he might, after all, have it in him to forge a new, more conservative vision for Britain.
There is now clear green water between the parties, making life trickier for Sir Keir Starmer. But I hope Sunak realises just how vicious the backlash will be: the Blob, the cultural aristocracy and myriad pseudo-Tories will unleash every dirty trick in the book to force him to back down. Broadcasters will continue to be hysterically negative, as will the clerisy; he will be accused of hating the “youth”; the Church, the Left-wing think-tanks, big business and charities will continue to condemn him; there will be leaks, resignations, and attempts at ousting him. It will be nasty and frenzied, but he must hold firm.
Yet by any rational standard, Sunak is merely being pragmatic and realistic: banning pure petrol cars in six and a bit years’ time is a dangerously utopian policy that would guarantee chaos, mass impoverishment, power cuts and a popular revolution. The same holds true for the other policies Sunak is delaying, including the ban on new oil and gas boilers. They are all examples of what the philosopher Rob Henderson calls “luxury beliefs”, ideas performatively adopted by hypocritical jet-setting elites to highlight their high social status, even though they inflict immense costs on those who can’t afford expensive electric cars or spare thousands to replace a boiler with technology that is not yet ready.
As recently as 2017, the original target for the ban on petrol cars was set at 2040. Sticking to the current 2030 deadline, a random date dreamt up by Boris Johnson because it sounded “better”, would represent the final triumph of dogma over reason. Our charging infrastructure won’t be ready, we won’t produce enough electricity and there won’t be enough truly cheap, long range all-electric models available, new or second-hand, to allow those with budgets of just a few thousand pounds to replace their vehicles. Prohibiting new combustion engines from 2035 onwards, as Sunak now wants to do, remains pretty extreme, but it’s at least a policy that stands a chance of being workable.