Readers of The Engineer slam Sunak’s net zero roll-back

According to the poll, which received 515 votes, 62 per cent of The Engineer’s readers believe that the changes will be disastrous for UK businesses, and represent a regression that we will live to regret; whilst 38 per cent support plans and think that the softening of commitments will benefit the UK without sabotaging our net zero targets.

See the poll here.

The PM’s announcement proposed a delay on the ban of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years, a watering down of the plan to phase out gas boilers, and an abandonment of new energy efficiency targets for privately rented homes.

Business and scientific communities have framed Sunak’s plans as naïve, politically motivated decisions that will damage the UK and surrender what could be a leading position in the global green economy.

Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK, said: “This is a timely reminder that the UK needs a long-term industrial strategy which encourages innovation in advanced, high value technologies such as net zero and AI to stimulate growth and skilled employment. This announcement sends entirely the wrong signal for businesses and suggests if we aren’t looking forward, we are simply going backwards.”