Michael Gove, the Levelling Up and Housing Secretary, has called for a more flexible approach to Net Zero measures, cautioning against treating environmental efforts as a “religious crusade”. In an interview with the Telegraph, he becomes the first of Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet to openly call for a reassessment of green initiatives amid a cost of living crisis and Tory backlash over recent by-election results. Here’s an excerpt:
Michael Gove has warned against treating the environment as a “religious crusade” as he called for a relaxation of some Net Zero measures.
In an interview with the Telegraph, the Levelling Up and Housing Secretary cited Dutch protests over emissions regulations, saying that the “inflexible” application of rules designed to reduce pollution “leads to a backlash”.
In his own department, Mr. Gove admits the Government is “asking too much too quickly” of landlords. They will currently be banned from renting out their homes unless they pay for green measures, such as insulation and heat pumps, to meet a new minimum energy efficiency threshold by 2028.
Citing existing financial pressures on landlords, he added: “I think we should relax the pace.”
He also warned that Natural England, the environment quango, must “pause” a push to block new housing near more than 330 designated areas across the country unless councillors agree to introduce green schemes such as ultra-low emission zones (Ulez) and low-traffic neighbourhoods.
The intervention comes amid a backlash among Conservative MPs over the party’s drubbing in two by-elections last week.
In a third, Boris Johnson’s former Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, the party narrowly won the poll after campaigning against Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion in London.
On Saturday, Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, issued a warning to his own party over its loss in Uxbridge, saying: “We are doing something very wrong if policies put forward by the Labour Party end up on each and every Tory leaflet.” He urged the London Mayor to “reflect” on the Ulez scheme.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith has become the latest MP to call for a rethink of Net Zero in light of the by-election results.
Writing in the Telegraph, the former Tory leader said voters are angry that the target of reducing net greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050 has led to “arbitrary and very costly” deadlines, such as the 2030 ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.
Of the petrol car ban, Mr. Gove said he cannot say “whether or not that is a perfectly calibrated target”, even though “I’m sure it’s achievable”.
Mr. Gove becomes the first of Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet ministers to publicly call for a relaxation of some measures, while warning about the consequences of pressing ahead with unpopular schemes during a cost of living crisis.
His intervention is particularly significant because, as environment secretary under Theresa May, he was a champion of the original move to put the overall 2050 deadline into law. He did not question the deadline itself.
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