Tory members don’t care about net zero ‘because 90% will be dead’, Conservative MP says

Chris Skidmore admits survey putting climate emergency at bottom of priority list is ‘rather depressing’

Tory party members care little about whether the UK hits ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050 “because 90 per cent of them will be dead”, a Conservative MP says.

Chris Skidmore admitted a survey which put the climate emergency at the bottom of the list for the people who will choose the next prime minister is “rather depressing”.

But he said it could be turned around if the debate is recast – to ram home the need to take immediate action to bring down emissions, rather than by the middle of the century.

“They would say that because, when you cast the question as net zero by 2050, probably 90 per cent of them will be dead,” said Mr Skidmore, a campaigner for the legal commitment.

He told The Independent: “To many older party members, 2050 seems far away and they wonder whether they will be around in 28 years’ time.

“But it is a quick time in reality, because we need action straight away. People will die in the heatwave today when they would not have if their homes were insulated.

“So, what we need to do is recast the debate, the conversation, about net zero, then it would be a higher priority for our members,” the MP for Kingswood said.

The call comes amid growing alarm at how the Tory leadership debate is focusing on tax cuts and trans rights issues, rather than the climate – even as the nation boils.

Kemi Badenoch, one of four surviving contenders ahead of the fourth ballot of MPs, branded the 2050 net zero commitment “unilateral economic disarmament” and vowed to axe it if elected.

A poll of the general public, in April, found that 64 per cent of all voters support the government’s commitment to hit net zero, with only nine per cent opposed.

But, in stark contrast, this week’s YouGov poll of Conservative members – who will choose between the final two candidates to replace Boris Johnson – put the issue bottom of a list of ten policy areas.

Top was winning the next election (56 per cent), with cutting personal taxes, increasing defence spending and strengthening Britain’s global standing the next most important.

Alok Sharma, the cabinet minister who led the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow last year and still holds the presidency, has hinted he could resign if the climate crisis is downgraded.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary who is challenging Penny Mordaunt for what is expected to be the second place on the final ballot, alongside Rishi Sunak, has also pledged to row back green measures.

She said she suspend the green levy on home energy bills in order to help households struggling with the cost of living, at a cost of £4.2bn a year.

After “green” hustings on Monday, Mr Skidmore suggested the public need not be “terrified that someone would think they have a mandate to unpick our climate commitments.

He said all the candidates were now “on the record supporting net zero and our climate commitments”.