Prime minister Rishi Sunak has ruled out a Brexit-style net zero referendum amid pressure from Conservative MPs and former MEP Nigel Farage.
He told ITV that there’s an “agreement on it” as “most people are committed to getting to net zero but getting there in a proportionate and pragmatic way.”
A recent poll by the Energy and Climate Change Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found 70% of the British public support the current target of net zero emissions by 2050, with just 18% of people opposed to it.
Interestingly, support of the target is higher among Tory voters, increasing to 73% with opposition at 19%.
“The path to net zero has got to be one that we tread carefully, that we bring everyone along with us on that journey,” said Sunak.
“We’ll bring people along with us as we do, we’ll not unnecessarily burden them with extra hassle or extra cost as we do it,” he added.
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Sunak under pressure
His statement comes after Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg urged Sunak to scrap net zero policies and “stop burdening” the public and businesses amid the last month’s byelection win in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
However, environment secretary Thérèse Coffey said the Conservative Party might lose the general election if green policies are abandoned.
Speaking with The Mail on Sunday, Coffey said: “in order to win the next election, we need to continue to show that we care about the environment.”
“We also need to show that there is a way to do that which doesn’t put burdens on hard-working people,” she added.
