UK plan to slash carbon emissions risks public ‘backlash,’ senior minister warns

LONDON — U.K. plans to tackle climate change risk a “backlash” if they hit voters in the pocket, a senior government minister warned Tuesday, amid intense debate in British politics about environmental policy.

Both the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour Party have vowed to learn lessons from a London by-election widely seen as a de facto referendum on a green tax aimed at cleaning up the capital city’s air.

Pushed on that result, Leveling Up Secretary Michael Gove told Times Radio Tuesday: “It’s important that the government does press ahead with appropriate and thoughtful steps in order to safeguard the environment — but there are some specific areas where the cost that is being imposed on individuals risks creating a backlash.”

The U.K. government has in recent days hinted it may back away from some of its key climate policies — amid pressure from MPs on the right of the Conservative party.

In a series of interviews with broadcasters Monday, PM Rishi Sunak said that while the government will “make progress” toward its target of cutting carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050, it would do so in a “way that doesn’t unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs in their lives.”

Sunak was speaking following his party’s unexpected victory last week in a by-election in Uxbridge and South Ruislip — where Conservative and opposition Labour officials both attributed the result to localized anger over the planned expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, proposed by Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The prime minister also cast some doubt over whether the government would keep its policy of banning new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030.

But in his morning round of broadcast interviews Tuesday, Gove appeared to make a firm commitment that particular policy is here to stay.

“We’re committed to maintaining our policy of ensuring that by 2030 there are no new petrol and diesel cars being sold,” Gove told the Today program.

“I’m sure there are some people who would like to change that policy, I understand. But that policy remains,” he added.