If you need proof that the Conservative government of Rishi Sunak is in full panic mode, then look no farther than the events of this past week.
These seven days have seen the UK government roll back its commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050 and place all of the practical onus for that happening onto the next generation of politicians. And there’s every likelihood that generation will have few Tory MPs in their ranks.
A general election is due in Britain within the next 14 months. The issue isn’t whether the Conservatives can win. No, the issue is by how much can they possibly lose. Will the scale of their defeat — yes, it is inevitable — be enough to see the party that has been in power for the past consecutive parliaments be kept in opposition for the next one, but very probably the next one too. And by then, that 2050 carbon neutral future will be very much pressing indeed.
The price of going green
The vast majority of British voters believe that the climate has changed, and that we are to blame for the artificial heating of our planet, the greenhouse effect, much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the air, and the consequential severe effects on our weather. And unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past three decades, you’ll know that governments around the world have slowly but surely come to the realisation that concerted action will only make things better.
But switching to a greener and cleaner way of living comes with a price. Old homes have to be insulated. Old ways of heating homes have to change. We can’t burn coal, we need to switch out old gas boilers that heat water and radiators, and modern heat pumps that are far more efficient are the way of the future. To do that, the cost to the average home in the UK exceeds £10,000. But it has to happen, sooner. Or later. With government help. Or not.
The cars we drive and the fuel we fill up with to power our vehicles has to change. As part of its commitment to moving to the clearer carbon neutral future by 2050, the UK government had decided that no more vehicles with internal combustion engines that were fuelled by petrol or diesel, were to be sold beyond 2030. The UK motoring industry was all in favour of this, and is investing billions in developing new technologies and building or retrofitting car factories.
The Conservatives are to hold their annual party conference in Manchester next week. Tory rank and file are unhappy. Tory MPs are unhappy. Mancunians are unhappy. The British public is unhappy.
Except now, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has changed his mind. Or rather, the bleak political environment has changed the PM’s mind.
As things stand now, the Conservatives are trailing the opposition Labour party by at least 15 points in the polls on a good day — and there have been few of them since Sunak came to power, and certainly none since Liz Truss — remember her? — led the UK a year ago.
On bad days, and there have been so many for the Conservatives since Boris Johnson said cheers to his party colleagues during the pandemic lockdowns three years ago, the Conservatives look hopeless. Their electoral prospects too. Those 380 seats won by Johnson in the general election of 2019 that promised to get Brexit done, well… let’s just say that the more optimistic political forecasts have the Conservatives holding on to about 100.
And given the way that they are viewed now, there is more than enough negative sentiment to keep them firm on the opposition benches until 2033 if not longer.
High speed train link ends at Birmingham
So, what of that negative sentiment? Tory backroom analysts think there is an element of that which might be of benefit. Going green costs more — and with things so bleak now for the UK economy — Sunak and his close cadre of advisers think that rolling back the mandatory ban on petrol and diesel vehicles will lessen their chances of political annihilation come the general election.
Since the environmental U-turn was announced by Sunak last week, the party’s standing has slipped by a couple more points, and only one voter in five thinks that the Conservatives can be trusted with that environment.
Levelling up? Remember that? The great pledge to lift the rest of England, Scotland and Wales up economically to the same level as London?
Forget it. Dead in the water. It was all talk. And the latest proof is Sunak’s decision to axe the new High Speed Train Two that was to link London with Birmingham and then Manchester.
It has cost the guts of £50 billion and will likely need another £30 billion and then some to complete the job.
This week, Sunak is announcing that the HS2 will only go from London to Birmingham. Manchester is out of luck. And chances are too that the rail line will have a watered-down terminal in north London, not from Euston Station.
It’s a mess.
The Conservatives are to hold their annual party conference in Manchester next week. Tory rank and file are unhappy. Tory MPs are unhappy. Mancunians are unhappy. The British public is unhappy.
No matter how much Sunak will try and sound upbeat, he’ll be like the speaker at a funeral trying to find something positive to say when everyone there knows the real truth. British voters are praying to say Rest in Peace to this sorry bunch on the government benches in Westminster.
