Rishi Sunak’s controversial net-zero speech has been analysed by fact checkers – and it’s not good news for the prime minister.
In a Downing Street address, the PM referred to a number of proposals, including taxes on meat and flying, compulsory car sharing, and a “diktat” for households to sort rubbish into seven different bins.
These proposals were also listed in a social media post shared by the prime minister and several other Conservative MPs, which also claimed that the government was scrapping “expensive insulation upgrades”.
Full Fact, an independent charity of fact-checkers and campaigners, has just released a fact check looking at some of the “worrying proposals” that the Prime Minister mentioned in his Net Zero speech this week.
A brief summary is below:
- The PM claimed that there’s a proposal to make you change your diet by taxing meat.
There’s no evidence the government intended to tax meat in order to reach Net Zero. Recommendations from official bodies such as the Climate Change Committee have not included taxing meat.
- The PM claimed that there’s a proposal to create new taxes to discourage flying or going on holiday.
There is no evidence the government intended such a policy. Earlier this year the government actually reduced air passenger taxes for those flying to domestic or ultra-long haul destinations.
- The PM claimed that there have been proposals for a government diktat to sort your rubbish into seven different bins.
The Environment Act 2021 sets out provisions for six different types of recyclable household waste to be collected separately. But it also includes exceptions to this requirement, and these provisions have not actually been brought into force.
- The PM claimed that there have been proposals for compulsory car sharing if you drive to work.
There’s no evidence the government intended to pursue compulsory car sharing. Although local car sharing schemes operate across the UK, they are not compulsory. A handful of commuter roads can only be used by vehicles with a minimum of two occupants during certain times of day, but these have existed since the late ‘90s.
- The PM claimed that the government is stopping heavy-handed measures on expensive insulation upgrades.
Although proposed changes to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, which would mean from 2025 new rental properties would need at least an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or above, have been mentioned in a government consultation, the government has not brought forward a policy or proposed legislation that would enact this.
Related: Oliver Dowden takes near-empty RAF plane to New York to discuss climate change