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.
The Chairman of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group adds that “we haven’t even got the renewable sources to cover the 20 per cent of energy we use, but we’re talking about replacing the 80 per cent with renewables.”
Time will tell, but my impression is the way the announcement was made – and, crucially, reported – means it’ll have a marginally negative impact overall.
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.
It is in Labour’s interest not to rise to CCHQ’s bait, and allow the Prime Minister to make a few inevitable u-turns.
I believe firmly that it is in our environmental, economic, moral, and – yes – political interests as Conservatives to make sure we lead on this issue rather than talk it down. We shouldn’t be coy about putting forward this positive vision.
The announcements made today are a positive continuation of our existing environmental policy, and a fine example of the Prime Minister’s pragmatic, and somewhat unsentimental approach to the major issues of the day.
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.
“So I’ll have no truck with anyone saying we lack ambition. But there’s nothing ambitious about merely asserting a goal for a short-term headline without being honest with the public about the tough choices and sacrifices involved.”
“Can we be brave in the decisions we make, even if there is a political cost? Can we be honest when the facts change, even if it’s awkward?”
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.
The goalposts cannot be moved. We have a moral, legal, and economic duty to cut our emissions by 68 per cent of 1990 levels by 2030 and reach Net Zero by 2050.