A big majority of Conservative voters want the next prime minister to pause and review the push for Net Zero, a new poll has revealed.
The findings will pile pressure on leadership hopefuls Liz Truss (r) and Rishi Sunak (pictured) to toughen their stance on the cost of the green transition. [bold, links added]
Both have committed to keeping the pledge to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 but said they will revisit how the UK is set to achieve it.
A new poll by YouGov found 59 percent of Tory voters want Net Zero frozen, which rises to 70 percent when “don’t knows” are excluded.
In contrast, only 30 percent of Labour and Lib Dem backers would like to see the climate target suspended by the next prime minister.
The survey showed that support for a review of the green policy is strongest among over 65s, almost one in six of whom are in favor.
Overall, the public is narrowly in favor of such a move by 52 percent to 48 percent when those who expressed no opinion are excluded.
Working-class voters are more likely to be skeptical of environmental targets than middle-class people, the results of the poll show.
They also reveal that backing for a rethink is highest in the Midlands and Wales and lowest in London and Scotland.
Ms. Truss, the frontrunner in the Tory leadership race, has pledged to temporarily scrap green levies on energy bills to help with the cost of living crisis.
The Foreign Secretary has said she will look again at how Net Zero is delivered, insisting “what I don’t want to see is ordinary households penalized.”
Mr. Sunak has pledged to build more offshore wind farms but has also insisted hitting green targets “can’t mean neglecting our energy security”.
The YouGov survey of 1,797 Britons was carried out last Wednesday and Thursday and was commissioned by Net Zero skeptic group CAR26.
It comes after a separate study by the pollster found only four percent of Tory members think the green policy should be a top policy priority.
Lois Perry, director of CAR26, said the results “give an excellent steer to our next prime minister” on how to approach climate policy.
“Net Zero policy is a luxury we cannot afford and should no longer be looked at in isolation as a mere virtue signal without assessing the costs and benefits if indeed there are any benefits,” she said.
“Net Zero needs to be considered in light of security and energy independence. How much safer and cheaper would our energy be now if we had not stopped fracking years ago?”
Read rest at Daily Telegraph
