Suella Braverman is speaking to us again shortly on Radio 4's Today.

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Sunak's bid to show his vision (and draw clear line with Labour)published at 08:02 British Summer Time 20 September 2023

08:02 BST 20 September 2023

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Why is Rishi Sunak doing this now? There are narrow and broad answers to that question.

First, the narrow. Parliament entered recess yesterday. There is a news lull before party conference season begins - the prime minister can now fill that space.

More broadly, allies of Sunak say he has been exercised for some time by the costs for consumers of net zero.

And more broadly still - Sunak is far behind in the opinion polls, and boy do they know it in Downing Street.

They know he needs to find a way to draw clear dividing lines with Labour and show the public that he has a distinctive vision for the future.

We've just heard from Suella Braverman, who is strongly backing Rishi Sunak's expected move to water down some key green commitments.

But other high-profile figures in the Conservative Party are unhappy with what the prime minister might announce later this week - and his general attitude to climate change.

Here's a selection of what we have heard so far:

Image source, Wikimedia Commons

Labour's response this morning has come from of Darren Jones, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said Rishi Sunak retreating from green commitments would damage the economy, adding:

Jones said the prime minister was "U-turning via leaks and midnight statements from the bunker in Downing Street". But he did not commit to a Labour government reinstating targets Sunak might scrap.

Asked about a potential delay to the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, Jones replied:

To finish off the interview, Braverman is asked about something in Sunak's surprise statement last night.

In it, he said: "For too many years, politicians in governments of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade-offs."

BBC Breakfast's Sally Nugent wonders if the PM was suggesting former PM Boris Johnson had been dishonest on this issue.

"No, it does not mean Boris Johnson was not honest," the home secretary responds.

Asked if she knows what the prime minister's speech will say, Braverman says she can't - and won't "pre-empt the detail".

Sunak is expected to talk later this week, and it's thought he will confirm a row back on some of the UK's key green policies.

She goes on to say she is "extremely proud" of the Tory administration - and that the UK remains a global leader when it comes to "setting a gold standard" on the environment.

The home secretary is continuing to defend the government's decision, saying ministers - including Sunak - are assessing the climate crisis as a whole and taking into account factors such as the cost of living crisis in the UK.

"We are not going to save the country by bankrupting the British people," she tells BBC Breakfast.

Braverman adds that Sunak is taking a "proportionate approach".

More from Suella Braverman now, who claims the government remains "absolutely committed" to net zero - in line with the UK's international agreements.

She says the commitment is "undimmed".

Braverman's now on Breakfast, where she's being asked again about her take on the prime minister's decision.

She says she agrees with the government's position, adding that it's an approach of "pragmatism and proportionality".

Image source, EPA

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has told Times Radio she "commends" Sunak for making "difficult" decisions on net zero.

She says: "We're not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people."

She's coming up on BBC Breakfast shortly, so stay with us and we'll keep you updated.

Sir Alok Sharma, a former Conservative cabinet minister who chaired the COP26 summit in Glasgow, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

Among other things, he says it's vital that the UK commits to ambitious targets because it's a global leader.

The reason the UK has been able to convince other countries to meet their climate commitments is precisely because we had ambitious targets ourselves, Sharma tells the programme.

It gave us the “moral authority” to speak to other countries about their climate goals, he says.

This isn’t the first time net zero has been mentioned by politicians - and it certainly won't be the last.

But what does it actually mean?

In short, net zero means no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases - such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane - in the atmosphere.

Not all emissions can be reduced to zero, so those that remain need to be matched by actively removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This is known as "offsetting".

The government has said it wants to reach net zero by 2050 and in his statement last night, Sunak said he remains committed to this.

• Read more about how close the UK is to reaching that target here

Chris Mason
Political editor

Governments hate it when they lose control of what they plan to say and when. And that is precisely what happened last night when we revealed Rishi Sunak was considering weakening some key green commitments.

Downing Street’s choreography, their grid of planned announcements, shredded by a leak.

Usually after a leak, folk in government will say they don't comment on leaks.

Not this time.

It wasn't just a comment, but a statement from the prime minister, effectively acknowledging what we had reported.

• Read more about all of that here

Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter

Hello, you join us amid the news that Rishi Sunak is thinking about weakening some of the government’s key green commitments in a major policy shift.

This could mean delaying a ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars and phasing out gas boilers, according to multiple sources who have spoken to the BBC.

Sunak is preparing to set out the changes in a speech in the next few days. In a statement last night, he said the government remains committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 - but in a "more proportionate way".

I’ll be bringing you updates on this story throughout the day with Megan Fisher and Ali Abbas Ahamdi, so stay with us.

In the meantime, get up to speed on this story here.