Desire for net zero referendum growing among public, poll finds

More people than ever want a referendum on the Government’s net zero policy, a survey has found.

A poll by YouGov found that 44 per cent of adults in Britain supported “holding a national referendum to decide whether or not the UK pursues a net zero carbon policy”, with 27 per cent opposed, while 29 per cent said they did not know.

When the “don’t knows” were excluded, 62 per cent wanted a referendum. A poll on the same question a year ago found that 58 per cent wanted a ballot on the issue.

Excluding “don’t knows”, 66 per cent of 2019 Labour voters backed a poll, compared with 60 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters and 56 per cent of Conservative voters.

Lib Dem voters were the most decisive group, with only 15 per cent “don’t knows”, compared with 25 per cent for Labour and 24 per cent for the Tories. Both Remainers and Leavers supported a referendum, at 58 per cent and 61 per cent of those expressing an opinion, respectively.

The survey was commissioned by Car26, which is campaigning for a referendum on net zero and a pause in carbon-related regulations until such a ballot is held.

However, speaking to The Telegraph, the Conservative MP carrying out a review of net zero delivery for the Government, Chris Skidmore, said there could be no delay to measures such as banning petrol cars because it would damage public trust.

Case for renewable energy

Mr Skidmore - who reveals in the Telegraph that he is standing down at the next election - said that recent events had reinforced the case for eliminating carbon and moving to domestic sources of renewable and clean energy.

“Russia's war in Ukraine has really sort of created this question around how do you deliver energy security and energy sovereignty for the future,” he said.

Mr Skidmore was commissioned by Liz Truss in September to carry out a review of net zero focusing on “maximising economic growth”.

The review was retained when Rishi Sunak replaced Ms Truss as prime minister last month.

As energy minister, Mr Skidmore was responsible for signing into law the Government’s policy to achieve net zero by 2050 - a target which his review is not questioning.

He revealed that his review would not recommend delaying the ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, nor plans to ban gas boilers in newly built homes from 2025 and ban the installation of new boilers in all homes from 2035.

Instead, it will look at what needs to be done to make sure the targets are achieved.

"The review is going to look at those mandates, but it won't make the case for delaying them,” he said. “If we don't achieve those mandates, it puts public confidence in our ability to be able to deliver change at risk. I always believe absolutely when it comes to policy, you should always under promise and over deliver, rather than over promise and under deliver.”

He added that there was a ”culture of delay” in relation to new energy infrastructure, which had to be overcome because “we haven't got the time to waste any more".

“There are questions around the planning processes, around the regulations that need to adapt and change if we're going to be able to meet those targets in time," he said.

Fracking 'dead in the ground'

Last month, Mr Skidmore played a leading role in the Commons drama which proved the death knell for Ms Truss’s government when she tried to whip Tory MPs into supporting fracking.

Shortly before the vote, he announced that he could not back the Government and was prepared to lose the whip for abstaining.

Mr Sunak reinstated the England-wide ban on fracking when he entered No 10, and Mr Skidmore said that the fiasco over the vote meant fracking would never now be backed by any future government.

“From a political perspective, it just simply is not going to happen,” he said. “It never was going to happen, and it should never have been put to the test in the way that it was. Fracking is dead in the ground."

The net zero review has received 1,800 written submissions and held 46 roundtable events to date, with the recommendations due to be published in January.

Mr Skidmore said the review was engaging with sceptics of climate change action, including the Tory MPs who have formed the Net Zero Scrutiny Group.

“It's incumbent upon me to not only work with all political parties, but to listen to those people who've got concerns about the energy transition,” he said.

He insisted that net zero provided an “opportunity” as an “investment rather than a cost”. “If we head into recessionary times, this is where the private investment is heading - there is money out there to be had,” he said.

“The key for me is that for those people who are concerned about the transition, this review has got to be able to demonstrate to them that net zero is going to make them warmer and richer. It isn't going to make them colder and poorer.”