Rishi Sunak pushes back ban on petrol and diesel cars

The ban was originally meant to take place in 2030 but now will take place in 2035 to avoid "unacceptable costs” on British families.

Speaking from Downing Street, the Prime Minister said he was acting to avoid a public “backlash” by watering down efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

However, the change has received fierce criticism from green-minded Tories, environmentalists and industry figures.

Ban on petrol and diesel cars pushed back to 2035

In his speech, Prime Minster Rishi Sunak said that the UK was already ahead of allies in reducing emissions.

We will still meet our international commitments and hit Net Zero by 2050.

Our new approach will embrace with even greater enthusiasm the incredible opportunities of green industry.

This will create hundreds of thousands of good, well-paid jobs right across the country. pic.twitter.com/krir2Js4gS

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) September 20, 2023

He said: "The risk here to those of us who care about reaching net zero, as I do, is simple: if we continue down this path we risk losing the consent of the British people,” he said.

“And the resulting backlash would not just be against specific policies but against the wider mission itself meaning we might never achieve our goal.

“That’s why we have to do things differently.”

However, not all are happy with the change, with Richard Burge, chief executive at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry saying: "The Government’s decision to suddenly backtrack and delay the ban on petrol and diesel cars makes us look flaky, unreliable, and incapable of leading the green energy revolution.

“The real world achieves success by sticking to workable plans.

“We can’t be a pendulum on issues that deter the confidence of our businesses who are key stakeholders on green energy issues.”