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The News Agents

Is this Sunak's 'moment of shame'?

The News Agents

Global

Government, News, Daily News, Politics

4.15.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 September 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Zac Goldsmith, one time energy minister, who resigned from Rishi Sunak's government, has accused his old boss of delivering a 'moment of shame' after he revealed plans to adjust (water down) his commitment to green policies.

Rishi Sunak was propelled into explaining his new position in a hastily arranged press conference after details were leaked to the BBC. What effect will these changes have environmentally, economically, and politically.

And why are Tory MPs now tearing strips off each other? We speak to Lord Greg Barker - former energy minister and Anna Valero who advises the chancellor.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith

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The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity.

0:08.1

This is a global player original podcast.

0:11.7

Since I've become Prime Minister, I've examined our plans, and I don't think they meet that test.

0:18.7

We seem to have defaulted to an approach which will impose unacceptable

0:23.1

costs on hard-pressed British families, costs that no one was ever really told about,

0:28.8

and which may not actually be necessary to deliver the emissions reduction that we need.

0:33.3

But I also think that at least for now, it should be you, the consumer that makes that choice,

0:39.2

not government forcing you to do it, because the upfront cost still is high,

0:44.4

especially for families struggling with the cost of living.

0:47.5

Small businesses are worried about the practicalities,

0:50.5

and we've got further to go to get the charging infrastructure truly nationwide.

0:55.5

So to give us more time to prepare, I'm announcing today that we're going to ease the transition

1:01.3

to electric vehicles.

1:03.1

That was Rishi Sunak, holding an emergency press conference, which followed an emergency cabinet.

1:09.8

That's after the cabinet that happened yesterday. This stuff

1:12.5

doesn't normally happen in Westminster. But Sunak has done it because he's been spooked by a series

1:18.9

of leaks which announced and previewed the fact that he was about, and indeed now has,

1:25.6

retreated from a whole series of green policies that will help

1:30.5

us get to net zero, something that Boris Johnson was committed to, something which Theresa May

1:36.1

was committed to, and which Rishi Sunak now isn't.

1:39.1

Rishi Sunak has achieved an incredible feat in the last 24 hours because he's united the energy sector,

1:46.1

the automotive sector and environmentalists who all see this move as anti-growth, anti-ambitious,

...

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