ANDREW PIERCE: How Rishi Sunak’s decision to pull back on Net Zero pledges unfolded in the face of partisan quangocrats trying to undermine the government
Last Friday evening, Rishi Sunak was relaxing with his family at Chequers when his phone suddenly rang.
A senior aide told him that The Times was planning to ‘splash’ its edition the next morning with claims that the PM had rejected calls from his backbench MPs to slow the headlong rush to net zero. The next morning, Sunak — always an early riser — dialled into a conference call with officials for his daily media briefing.
I’m told that those present were, to put it mildly, ‘surprised’ by the paper’s story. Anonymous sources had confidently claimed that Britain’s ‘forced transition to electric cars’ was to be confirmed within weeks, after Sunak had accepted that any delay to the 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles would risk damaging business. There were other similar claims in the ‘exclusive’ story.
The only problem? It wasn’t true.
Sunak decided not to respond – and within hours the story had been eclipsed by the controversy generated by the allegations against the comedian Russell Brand. But, privately, there was fury in the PM’s camp. His closest aides suspected a senior civil servant, possibly operating from inside No 10 itself, had been behind the renegade briefing.
Rishi Sunak (pictured) announcing changes to the government’s net zero policies on Wednesday
Mr Sunak’s camp is said to have been furious that The Times ran a story claiming he was about to nail down the 2030 target for petrol and vehicle targets – which wasn’t true (file image of early morning traffic in London)
The wreckers were trying to stop the PM from abandoning several flagship eco-policies, including the 2030 car ban, the ban on gas boilers, as well as the introduction of new insulation rules for landlords (Stock Image)
They believed it was another ploy by the Civil Service ‘Blob’: The increasingly partisan quangocrats, mandarins and key figures in Left-leaning institutions who are trying to undermine the Tory Government.
The Blob, of course, loves net zero — and this time it was trying to bounce Sunak into sticking to the green agenda enthusiastically championed by ex-PMs Theresa May and Boris Johnson in different economic times.
Sunak’s No 10 is usually a tight ship: Leaks are rare. Last night, a senior source told the Mail: ‘This was an act of brazen disloyalty from a supposedly impartial civil servant trying to provoke division within Tory ranks. The rogue briefing was 100 per cent wrong.’
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak takes axe to Tory net zero plans warning current 2030 target would cost families £15,000: PM waters down ban on gas boilers and petrol and diesel cars, scraps plans for seven bins per home and says there will be no extra tax on flights or meat
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Another senior Whitehall source added: ‘It’s really annoying. Someone tried to take a wrecking ball to the [policies of the elected Government]. Talk about a traitor within.’
The wreckers were trying to stop the PM from abandoning several flagship eco-policies, including the 2030 car ban, the ban on gas boilers, as well as the introduction of new insulation rules for landlords. When they realised the PM was planning a landmark speech tomorrow rethinking some of these controversial schemes, the Blob, according to one senior Tory, ‘went absolutely mad’.
As the speech drew closer, a draft was shared with a wider group in Whitehall, among them Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, Sunak’s closest political friend.
The Treasury was also brought into the loop, as was Transport Secretary Mark Harper and new Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho. (In August, Coutinho replaced Grant Shapps, whose surprise appointment as Defence Secretary raised eyebrows among military top brass. A senior Tory said yesterday: ‘Grant was evangelical about net zero and would have fought the changes to petrol and diesel cars. Does that explain his move to Defence?’)
As Sunak’s plans became better known, the Blob mobilised itself, hatching the plot to scupper them. First, The Times was briefed that Sunak was sticking with the commitments – in the hope that he could be ‘bounced’ into doing so.
Then, on Tuesday, officials leaked the details of the PM’s actual plans to the BBC in time for the 6pm news. This was intended to trigger a backlash from Left-wing eco-zealots, as well as from a handful of green ‘wets’ on the Tory benches, creating the impression the PM was out of step with his own party.
Three hours after the BBC broke the story, No 10 published a rare late-night statement doubling down on the plans. By then, of course, the Blob had done its job – and the backlash had started.
When they realised the PM was planning a landmark speech tomorrow rethinking some of these controversial schemes, the Blob, according to one senior Tory, ‘went absolutely mad’ (file image of Whitehall, home to the UK’s civil service)
As the speech drew closer, a draft was shared with a wider group in Whitehall, among them Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, Sunak’s closest political friend. The Treasury was also brought into the loop, as was Transport Secretary Mark Harper (pictured)
An outlandish theory, dreamt up by Labour MPs, began doing the rounds: That Sunak’s change of heart was a response to ex-PM Liz Truss (pictured), who on Monday had called for net zero to be abandoned
Environmentalist George Monbiot crowed: ‘Sunak is desperate and entirely unprincipled.’ Green Party MP Caroline Lucas appeared on the BBC to declare: ‘This is pure political game-playing.’
One Tory MP shrieked it was ‘the greatest mistake of [Sunak’s] premiership’, as breathless broadcasters claimed that letters of no confidence might even be submitted.
An outlandish theory, dreamt up by Labour MPs, began doing the rounds: That Sunak’s change of heart was a response to ex-PM Liz Truss, who on Monday had called for net zero to be abandoned. But a source told the Mail: ‘The idea that a speech of such political significance would be written and presented within 48 hours is naive and absurd – and Labour knows it.’
As tensions mounted, the PM brought forward his speech to try to regain the political initiative.
I have established that work on the speech actually began months ago — even before July’s Uxbridge by-election, which was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson. The Tories unexpectedly won that vote after turning it into a de-facto referendum on London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s expansion of his Ultra Low Emission Zone, a £12.50 daily tax on older cars.
Last night a ministerial source said: ‘For months, Rishi has been talking about ‘change’. Changing the way we do business and changing the way we deliver net zero. He didn’t want this delivered on the backs of the poorest families, or by forcing changes on the public that wouldn’t wash. This will make net zero more deliverable.’
Despite the best efforts of the Blob, Sunak stuck to his guns, rode out the media storm and yesterday delivered his speech unchanged.
And he may have the last laugh. Most Tory MPs I have spoken to are confident the polls will show a swift improvement, as hard-pressed households welcome the move – exactly what the Blob wanted to avoid.
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