London: We won't save planet by bankrupting British people

Britain's interior minister said on Wednesday the country needed to take a pragmatic approach to getting to net zero because it could not "save the planet by bankrupting the British people".

The comment by Suella Braverman comes ahead of a speech by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week where he is expected to delay some of the government policies which underpin Britain's long-term plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

"We have to adopt a pragmatic approach, a proportionate approach and one that also serves our goals and we're not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people," Braverman told Times Radio.

With a general election looming next year, Sunak sees scaling back some green policies as a way to win over swing voters. That would be a striking reversal for Britain which until recently was a self-proclaimed leader in climate policy.

One area of speculation is that the government could delay the introduction of a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to 2035 from the current target of 2030, a move that would introduce new uncertainty into the car industry.