Is Rishi Sunak’s net zero U-turn a vote-winner?
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 22 September 2023
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
Rishi Sunak sparked a fierce backlash from eco-minded Tories, as well as fury from industry, over his rowback on net zero policies. But will his gamble pay off with voters? Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT’s Robert Shrimsley and George Parker to discuss how it plays in electoral terms. The FT’s Jim Pickard meanwhile delves into the details of the impact on electric vehicles and the auto sector. Plus, the gang examines Keir Starmer’s major intervention on relations with the EU.
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Clip from: BBC
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Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Audrey Tinline. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Imagine you, you in a nice comfy seat with your hands behind your head, |
| 0:07.6 | taking in the views, instead of taking on the road, maybe even taking a nap. |
| 0:13.6 | That's the bliss of getting where you need to go without worrying about driving. |
| 0:19.2 | Hook your train journey by at AvantiWescoast.co.uk and we'll take you there. |
| 0:24.4 | AvantiWescoast, feel good travel. |
| 0:34.8 | The reality on the ground is that the car industry is still being forced within six years from today |
| 0:40.9 | to make 80% of the cars they sell in Britain be electric cars. |
| 0:45.4 | Welcome to Political Fix, your essential insider guide to Westminster from the Financial Times |
| 0:52.2 | with me, Lucy Fisher. You had their the FT's Jim Picard talking about how the UK's car |
| 0:57.4 | industry could be affected by Rishi Sunak's net zero U-turn, more from him later. |
| 1:02.7 | For now, I'm joined in the studio by the FT's Robert Trimsley. |
| 1:05.7 | Hi, Robert. |
| 1:06.5 | Hi, Lucy. |
| 1:07.6 | And the FT's political editor George Parker. Hi, George. |
| 1:10.4 | Hi, Lucy. |
| 1:14.4 | Thanks both for joining. |
| 1:16.1 | So we're going to talk this week about Rishi Sunak's surprise U-turn on some of his key net zero |
| 1:23.0 | policies. But first, let's just hear a clip from Sunak himself from that hastily arranged press |
| 1:28.6 | conference on Wednesday. |
| 1:30.6 | We seem to have defaulted to an approach which will impose unacceptable costs on hard press |
| 1:36.1 | British families, costs that no one was ever really told about, and which may not actually |
| 1:41.5 | be necessary to deliver the emissions reduction that we need. |
... |
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