Sunak’s retreat on net zero is a betrayal – and it won’t win him votes

A rowback on net zero and the green light for Rosebank oilfield – Rishi Sunak does not seem to value the one jewel in his tarnished inheritance, writes Lord Deben, Conservative peer and chairman of the UK’s independent Committee on Climate Change

To vastly increase our oil production into the 2030s is wholly counterproductive (Getty)

The Conservative Party – the party of business – has had a bad month. It has failed the offshore wind industry, which was in many ways its own creation; angered most motor car manufacturers; and thrown the construction industry into turmoil. The words of the chairman of Ford will long resonate in judgement. He demanded a government that was “ambitious, committed, and consistent”.

Consistent? Hardly a description of a government that in July said the 2030 date for the end of petrol and diesel cars was “immovable” and in September moved it. Ministers can’t expect industry to invest when they don’t keep their word.

Committed? In the annual contracts for difference, the UK signs up new generating capabilities. Last month, for the first time, there was not a single bid for offshore wind. Grant Shapps, the then secretary of state, had overruled all advice and fixed an impossibly low reference (maximum) price level. That means the UK will miss out on a whole year’s turbine construction and we’ll have to use yet more gas. Consumers will pay the significantly higher price.