Petrol car ban may be delayed as Sunak waters down net zero pledges

Alterations to policies concerning cars, boilers and landlords are among seven changes being considered by Mr Sunak.

He is expected to say that there will be no policies to change people’s diets or to encourage carpooling, and no new taxes to discourage flying. He is also likely to rule out burdensome recycling schemes, including a proposal for seven bins, with six separate recycling bins plus one for general waste.

It comes three weeks after the Prime Minister installed Claire Coutinho as the Energy, Security and Net Zero Secretary, an appointment that many Tories suggested was a sign that he was considering a change of policy.

In the past Ms Coutinho has stood up for the thousands of people, mostly in rural communities, who use off-grid oil boilers. At the time, a senior government source said that while she agreed to push forward on net zero plans with Mr Sunak, she believed households should be protected from “massive” financial costs.

The timing of the policy shift is eye-catching, because major announcements are usually saved until the Tory party conference at the start of October, but it is believed to be part of a strategy to distance the Conservatives from Labour amid dire polling and with two by-elections looming. 

Mr Sunak’s personal ratings have fallen to their lowest ever levels, with a Deltapoll survey published on Tuesday giving Labour a 24-point lead.

He is facing a difficult fight to keep Nadine Dorries’ old Mid Bedfordshire seat in a by-election next month, which falls on the same day as the vote in the Tamworth seat of disgraced MP Chris Pincher.

Party strategists believe the Tory victory in July’s Uxbridge by-election proves that Sir Keir Starmer’s ideological commitment to net zero is at odds with the general public.

The Tories managed to hold Boris Johnson’s old seat against a Labour onslaught, with the London mayor Sadiq Khan’s extension of the ultra-low emission zone across the whole of the capital proving a key issue.