Pro-environment policies – and Treasury funding to make them a reality – were a consistent hallmark of his tenure as Chancellor,
Any reform should not be an opportunity for state overreach, and mountains of discarded wheelie bins through narrowly dictated Government specification would be unfortunate.
The elephant in the room is that, unless something significant changes, it is unlikely that the Prime Minister will be able to see through any these plans.
The effect of the train strikes on attendance, the trauma of recent years, and the change in the nature of the Tory Conference itself leave the question hanging.
Voters clearly want it – and the recent past suggests he’s a more credible agent of it than Sir Keir.
In terms of party management, the Prime Minister seems to have pulled it off – at least for the time being and as far as Tory MPs are concerned.
Scoring generously, we can say the Prime Minister has saved the nation from two policies of his own government. The other three seem only to have been internal proposals.
If the Government is serious about planning reforms and changes to the way we hook stuff up to the grid, it’s just possible today’s speech could end up accelerating the rollout of electric cars, and the deployment of new clean energy.
In one sense, the timing of Sunak’s change of gear is good, in the sense that it’s never wrong to make the right argument. In another, it’s terrible, because he’s doing so very late in the day.
Better waste-water treatment and agricultural practices are more practical and cost-effective ways to proceed.
These latest proposed changes should not be seen as a retrograde step or a desire to weaken the Habitat Regulations, but seen as a pragmatic and ecologically sound approach to the current impasse.
In my area, ill-judged EU rules have helped see all development blocked for nine years, exacerbating the housing crisis whilst doing little to actually protect the environment.
If you want people to feel motivated to go out and vote Conservative, delivering some Conservative policies would be a good start.