More than 80% of Tory members oppose 2030 ban on sale of new petrol and diesel cars, poll finds -...
More than 80 per cent of Tory members think the Government is wrong to ban the sale of new and diesel vehicles by 2030, a survey has suggested. The pledge to prohibit the purchase of fossil fuel-only cars and vans in six-and-a-half years' time is a key part of ministers' plans for Britain to meet its net-zero ambition. But more than 8 in 10 of the Tories' grassroots don't support the measure, according to a poll by the The survey also found four in 10 of members were opposed to the Government's aim of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Nearly half (49 per cent) said they believed global warming was happening and being driven by human activity. But one third (33 per cent) said global warming was happening but wasn't being driven by human activity. And more than one in 10 (12 per cent) said global warming wasn't happening. Rishi Sunak recently doubled-down on the Government's commitment to meeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Prime Minister has also reaffirmed his commitment to the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles. But he has stressed that action to reach net-zero needed to be done in a 'proportionate and pragmatic way' amid the cost-of-living crisis. The PM has come under pressure from some Tories to rethink the Government's green pledges in the wake of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. The Tories' victory in the contest has been attributed to a local backlash against London mayor Saiq Khan's expansion of the capital's Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez). Following the by-election win, The ConservativeHome survey of Tory members, which received just under 700 responses, found only six per cent supported LTNs, compared to two-thirds (66 per cent) who opposed the schemes. A quarter (26 per cent) said they supported LTNs but were opposed in some cases to the way in which they have been implemented. United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres last month claimed the era of global warming had ended and 'the era of global boiling has arrived', amid projections that July would be the world's hottest month on record. But the poll of Tory members found less than a third (27 per cent) thought there was a 'climate change emergency' compared to two-thirds (66 per cent) who said there wasn't a 'climate change emergency'.