Rishi Sunak has suffered one of the biggest rebellions of his premiership as dozens of Tory MPs, including Suella Braverman and Dame Priti Patel, voted against his Net Zero plans. The Telegraph has the story.
The two former Home Secretaries joined backbenchers to oppose a quota on sales of electric cars.
The measure was passed with Labour’s support on Monday evening but will be a worry to Mr. Sunak as Tory rebels reached the “magic number” of 26 – the number of Tory MPs that would overturn his majority.
It came minutes after he suffered his first defeat in the House of Commons, with MPs – including 22 Conservatives – voting to speed up compensation for victims of the infected blood scandal.
Senior Tories are worried that Mr. Sunak, who in September announced that a ban on sales of petrol and diesel cars would be pushed back by five years, is reneging on the commitment.
The controversial mandate compels car manufacturers to ensure at least 22% of their vehicles sold will be electric from January 1st.
By 2030, 80% of cars sold will need to be zero emission, even though the outright ban on petrol and diesel does not come in until 2035.
David Jones, a former Cabinet minister who voted against the measure, said that it “completely negates” Mr. Sunak’s pledge to delay Net Zero targets.
He told the Telegraph: “[The vote] took everybody by surprise. We all assumed that there was going to be a more sensible and gradual transition to Net Zero and this has completely undone that.”
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