We can’t sacrifice the needs of Britain for a green utopia writes Esther Krakue

Rishi Sunak has announced changes to Boris Johnsons plans (Image: Getty) In 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson enthusiastically unveiled his plan for Britain’s transition to carbon neutrality. His proposals introduced a wide range of policies aimed at cutting carbon emissions, including a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. “Our green industrial revolution,” he predicted, “will be powered by the wind turbines of Scotland, propelled by electric vehicles made in the Midlands and advanced by technologies developed in Wales so we can look ahead to a more prosperous, greener future”. And when it’s all said and done, will Britons gather by the campfire and sing ‘Kumbaya’, too? If it wasn’t clear then, the scale of the net zero undertaking has become clear now. So much so that Rishi Sunak has announced a rethink of his predecessor’s plans, including a delayed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and weakening the policy to phase out gas boilers. Mr Sunak has also reassured homeowners that there will be no new energy efficiency regulations in homes and a 2026 ban on off-grid oil boilers will be delayed until 2035. Moreover, Britons will be told there will be no new taxes to discourage flying, no policies to change people’s diets and no recycling schemes that require “seven different bins”. Finally, common sense prevails! For years, politicians have remained coy about the real costs and trade-offs of achieving net zero – and the closer we get to the dates set by climate alarmists, the harder the reality sets in. Take the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles for example. It’s a move described as “immensely challenging” by The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders, with the potential to completely destroy the British motor industry. Yet, when Mr Johnson announced the ban, there was evidently no transition plan in place. Electric cars need to become cheaper and easier to charge (Image: Getty) Firstly, the infrastructure needed to sustain the country’s transition to electric vehicles is severely lacking. There are currently 42,000 electrical vehicle chargers in the country. The Climate Change Committee estimates we need more than 300,000 to decarbonise our road transport. And, the chargers that do exist are unevenly distributed, with the bottom fifth of local authorities providing just 20 chargers per 100,000 people compared to 55 across England. Electrical vehicles at present are also a logistical nightmare. Many EV drivers have “range anxiety” – the fear their vehicle could run out of battery with no chargers nearby. And rightly so. Of the 42,000 chargers available, only 8,000 so-called “rapid” ones are able to charge a car’s battery from 20 per cent to 80 percent in less than half an hour. Thirty minutes to charge a car? How is anyone supposed to get anything done? But the biggest thing that puts many drivers off buying an electric car is the cost. Last year, the top-selling EVs in Britain cost about £45,000 and £43,000 respectively, with the cheapest available – a Chinese car – costing £27,000. And of course, these figures don’t include the cost of charging, with VAT rates rising from five per cent to 20 percent for those who charge their EVs using public infrastructure. Another cost will come in 2025, when electric vehicles lose their exemption from vehicle excise duty under changes announced last November. Against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, why should any politician expect the average person to take on such a burden? It is ironic that Green Party MP Caroline Lucas called any rollback on net zero “economically illiterate, historically inaccurate and environmentally bone-headed”. I suspect many people would argue that being saddled with thousands of pounds in extra costs in the name of net zero is environmentally bone-headed. There are opportunity costs to this singleminded transition to carbon neutrality, and we need to take into account how people could be a lot worse off if we continue down this road. Suella Braverman put it best when she said: “We’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people.” We are certainly not going to encourage less developed countries to go carbon neutral if we crash our own economy. Ultimately, a pragmatic approach requires us to be balanced and measured. It is about recognising the needs of the country without gambling our livelihoods on the prospect of a sunflower-fuelled green utopia. I am glad the Conservatives are finally recognising this – and hopefully, other parties will follow suit. ‘If we continue down this road, people could be a lot worse off’