By Jessica Frank-Keyes
Rishi Sunak vowed this afternoon that his government would “never impose unnecessary and heavy handed measures” on the public via green policies.
And to listen to the Prime Minister, you’d be forgiven for thinking draconian new eco-laws were just moments from coming into force, slapping Brits with higher costs on everything from KFC to Uber.
Sunak said he had scrapped the “proposal to make you change your diet – and harm British farmers – by taxing meat”.
Hearing this, one could imagine that the humble rump steak would soon be whacked with extra green taxes. But this is not the case.
Some campaigners have called for lower meat consumption, and the government’s own committee on climate change has warned that it will be difficult to hit certain targets in the long-term unless there is a sea change in how we consume meat.
But plans for a meat tax or similar green policies have never been raised by the government publicly, nor have they featured in any consultation.
One ‘nudge unit’ document suggested it as an idea in 2021, but there is no evidence of the government ever pursuing the policy in any form. ‘Was it actually going to happen’ rating? 0/10.
That (imaginary?) policy may now be firmly in the bin. But which bin?
Back in March, ministers floated plans for households to have seven different waste bins to separate recycling more efficiently.
Defra secretary Thérèse Coffey was meant to publish a response to a consultation on the issue, but it never surfaced after widespread opposition to the idea.
MPs said the scheme to individually collect paper, cardboard, metal, plastic and glass as well as garden and food waste was “unworkable” and “madness”.
Chances of it ever actually happening, then? A generous 4/10.
Moving on to transport, Sunak said he had “scrapped” plans to interfere in how many passengers you can have in your car, and to “create new taxes to discourage flying”.
Frankly, City A.M. could find no mention of any Whitehall level policy to encourage people to car pool, unless what the PM meant by interfere was a return to piling more than five people into a four-door vehicle.
The Department for Transport (DfT) published guidance for local councils on encouraging lift sharing in April last year, as part of the transport decarbonisation plan.
So I guess ignore all that now? Nominated for a ‘Things That Didn’t Happen’ award.
Finally, on flying, we’ll leave you with this from former treasury minister Simon Clarke.
“A lot of straw men have been offered up which simply weren’t policy,” he posted on X. “Nobody serious in politics was talking about banning flying, taxing meat etc.”
