UK
OPINION - The incredible shrinking Sunak — how the world now sees RishiBen Judah
Thu, 3 August 2023
Rishi Sunak lacks passion (PA Wire)
Something deeply unfortunate is happening to the Prime Minister on the world stage. Instead of growing and accumulating gravitas nine months into the job, Rishi Sunak is shrinking in political stature. From global warming to Ukraine, one after the other on issues his predecessor carved out a big place for Britain, the Prime Minister has deliberately shrunk himself and the country’s role. He has frittered away a good hand.
This is disappointing for the Conservative Party because Sunak really did spark a lot of interest internationally when he was first appointed premier. Boris Johnson, with the lingering bruises and bitterness from Brexit, was deeply disliked in certain European capitals and a few pockets of the White House.
Sunak seemed like a breath of fresh air, a solid manager and a respectable and respectful captain for a Britain that appeared to them adrift.
This gave him a real opportunity to make something internationally of the two areas Johnson’s premiership had been a success: global climate talks, which Britain hosted at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, and Ukraine, where championing President Volodymyr Zelensky and daring to send the right stuff at the right time had made him a national hero to millions of Ukrainians. Even better, Sunak had one thing that Johnson — whose much delayed visit to India was marred by partygate — never had. Both a South Asian heritage and high-powered billionaire Indian family who could help him reset Britain’s relationship with New Delhi for the 21st century and unlock long frustrated potential.
The PM initially seemed like a breath of fresh air, a respectable captain for Britain
Unfortunately nothing has happened with India. Nobody, I can confirm, talks much about Sunak in Kyiv. The Prime Minister has not followed his predecessor in attempting to loudly lead the pack when it comes to arms transfers. The impression in foreign ministries across the alliance is that he simply isn’t much interested and they would be right.
The Prime Minister lacks a passion for Ukraine’s fight — which means he is less likely than his predecessor to challenge Western allies to give more. Overall, he calls, visits and pushes to speak on the issue with international partners less.
This is disappointing because over the current frontlines, the questions of arming a new offensive, security ties, reconstruction and Ukraine’s ties to Nato are all up for grabs.
The second Sunak retreat is when it comes to climate change. Johnson made his commitment to net zero and the environment a signature part of his international politics. He viewed the UK’s handling of COP26 as a major achievement and grasped that net zero was not just the international equivalent of a painful but necessary weight loss target — which is how Sunak talks about it — but a new industrial revolution. The results of which would decide which countries dominate the supply chains of the vehicles and energy of tomorrow.
The Prime Minister’s failure to grasp the centrality of this agenda caused the first major U-turn of his time in office, when he initially did not even want to attend the follow-on COP. Recent green-bashing by the Prime Minister — he has not deviated from net zero — is one. Worse is that he has failed to launch an industrial policy response to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) or the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan (GDIP.) He will arrive at the next COP in the United Arab Emirates a smaller figure than he could have been.
The only real success Sunak has had on foreign policy is the Windsor Framework deal over the Brexit loose ends in Northern Ireland with the EU. However, he has failed to capitalise on that in any meaningful way in seeking the serious changes to the trade, mobility, financial or foreign policy co-ordination aspects to Johnson’s botched deal with the bloc that the UK needs.
European leaders want, especially when it comes to foreign policy and security, as recently voiced by Michel Barnier, to sign a new foreign policy treaty with the UK, which would in no way impact British sovereignty and turn a new leaf for mutual ties.
But those same leaders, sadly, think that Sunak has shrunk in authority as national polls point to defeat. They have little expectation of any new deals and nor do they think he will be around for long.
It is a shame that Britain, at such a frightening moment in geopolitics, has a vacant Prime Minister interested in making announcements about chess instead of shaping world events. The loser of this kind of myopia, from Ukraine to the climate — is British influence.
Ben Judah is the author of This Is Europe: The Way We Live Now out now with Picador
Sunak’s Approval Rating on Environment Falls to Record Low
Public approval of the UK government's handling of the environment has reached a new low after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was accused of backsliding on the climate emergency and clean air.
The prime minister on Wednesday said his record on green issues had been "fantastic" but a poll by YouGov released the same day shows his government now has a net approval rating of -37 on the issue – a new low, The Independent reported.
It comes after Sunak said he would green-light more than 100 oil and gas drilling licences and signalled that policies like low traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph speed limits could be in danger.
Right-wing conservatives have also dominated headlines this week with calls to ditch or delay net zero pledges like a ban on new gas boilers and petrol cars.
The YouGov survey conducted between 29 and 31 July shows that now just 27 per cent of people think the government is handling the environment well, with 63 per cent saying badly and 10 per cent saying they don't know.
"Following a week of trying to row back on green policies, the government’s handling of the environment has received its lowest rating since tracking began in mid-2019, a net score of -37," YouGov's head of data journalism Matthew Smith said.
Responding on Wednesday to implied criticism from the UN climate bodies over the direction of government's policy, Sunak told LBC radio, "We should not take any lectures from anybody about our record. Our record is fantastic. It's better than everyone else's."
Sunak told the broadcaster that he cared about Britain reaching the target of net zero by 2050, and that he wanted to leave the environment and the climate in a better state for his children.
But more than 50 green groups including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Trust, the Green Alliance and WWF UK this week warned the government against “backsliding”, adding, “We will not stand by whilst politicians use the environment as a political football.”
Energy secretary Grant Shapps on Wednesday also defended the government’s record told broadcaster GB News that the Government has been “moving very fast” on renewable energy.
“Everyone supports this country's transition to net zero, but you cannot get there by telling people we're simply going to stop using oil and gas," he told the broadcaster.
“The only way to do that would be to tell people don't put your gas boiler on, don't drive a petrol car, and do that almost instantaneously," he continued, adding, “Unless you do that, what you're really saying is, we're not going to dig our own oil and gas, we'll import it instead and that's basically Labour's policy on this.”
'Sack Sunak?'
Greenpeace activists have said they have scaled Rishi Sunak’s mansion in protest at his new drilling “frenzy”.
The campaigners said they had draped the British prime minister’s manor house in North Yorkshire with an oily-black fabric to “drive home the dangerous consequences”.
They took the action on Thursday, 3 August 2023 as Mr Sunak and his family are away on holiday in California.
Scaling
Mr Sunak, the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, has said he plans to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves by granting more than 100 new licences for extraction in the North Sea.
He has also hinted that the UK’s largest untapped oil field, Rosebank, to the west of Shetland, could be approved despite fierce opposition from environmental campaigners.
Climate-conscious Conservatives have joined campaigners to warn against the move, amid concerns it will hinder efforts to reach net-zero by 2050.
Windfall
After scaling the house, the four activists held up a banner demanding “no new oil”.
Greenpeace UK climate campaigner Philip Evans said: “We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist.
“Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling.
“He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points by sowing division around climate in this country. This is cynical beyond belief.
Homes
“More North Sea drilling will only benefit oil giants who stand to make even more billions from it, partly thanks to a giant loophole in Sunak’s own windfall tax.”
A No 10 source said “police are in attendance” before defending Mr Sunak’s climate policies. “We make no apology," they said.
Alicia Kearns, the senior Tory who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said the action was “unacceptable”.
“Politicians live in the public eye and rightly receive intense scrutiny, but their family homes should not be under assault,” she said. “Before long police will need to be stationed outside the home of every MP.”
This Author
Sam Blewett is the PA deputy political editor.
UPDATE
First pictures as police called to Rishi Sunak's home after protestors mount roof
HOW COME THE PM HOUSE HAD NO SECURITY?
ASKING FOR A FRIEND
Daniel Hordon
Daniel Hordon
NORTHERN ECHO
Thu, 3 August 2023
Protestors on the roof of Rishi Sunak's North Yorkshire manor house. (Image: NNP)
Police have been called to the North Yorkshire home of PM Rishi Sunak after protestors climbed onto the roof.
Four Greenpeace protesters with ladders and ropes scaled Sunak’s £2m manor house early on Thursday (August 3) morning.
The PM is currently away with his family on holiday in California and was not home at the time.
Read more: Ambulance service got daughter's date of death wrong in apology letter to mum
North Yorkshire police said it was responding to “reports of protest activity” and officers closed roads at the scene near Sunak’s family home in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton
The Northern Echo: Four protestors seen on the roof of Rishi Sunak's home.
Four protestors seen on the roof of Rishi Sunak's home. (Image: NNP)
A force spokesperson said: “At 8.06am this morning (August 3, 2023) we were made aware a number of protesters climbing onto the roof of the Prime Minister's home in Kirby Sigston.
“We have contained the area and no one has entered the building.
The Northern Echo: Police descended on the area.
Police descended on the area. (Image: NNP)
“At present there are four protesters on the roof of the property.
“The PM and his family are not at home.”
The Northern Echo: Protestors draped oil-black cloth down the side of the £2m mansion.
Protestors draped oil-black cloth down the side of the £2m mansion. (Image: NNP)
The demonstrators said they had draped the Prime Minister’s manor house in North Yorkshire with an oil-black fabric to “drive home the dangerous consequences” of his new policy on oil and gas.
The PM said earlier this week he would “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves and grant more than 100 new licences for extraction in the North Sea.
Read next:
Hotel near Darlington sparks fury as alcohol licence extended until 2am
Metrocentre restaurant closed just nine months after it first opened its doors
Restaurant tipped in Michelin guide announces shock closure as it thanks loyal diners
Get more from The Northern Echo now for just £6 for 6 months with a Premium Plus digital subscription. Click here
Greenpeace UK climate campaigner Philip Evans said: “We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist.
“Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling.
The Northern Echo: Police at Rishi Sunak's home after a Greenpeace protest.
Police at Rishi Sunak's home after a Greenpeace protest. (Image: NNP)
“He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points by sowing division around climate in this country. This is cynical beyond belief.
“More North Sea drilling will only benefit oil giants who stand to make even more billions from it, partly thanks to a giant loophole in Sunak’s own windfall tax.”
The Northern Echo: Protestors seen on the roof.
Protestors seen on the roof. (Image: NNP)
Thu, 3 August 2023
Protestors on the roof of Rishi Sunak's North Yorkshire manor house. (Image: NNP)
Police have been called to the North Yorkshire home of PM Rishi Sunak after protestors climbed onto the roof.
Four Greenpeace protesters with ladders and ropes scaled Sunak’s £2m manor house early on Thursday (August 3) morning.
The PM is currently away with his family on holiday in California and was not home at the time.
Read more: Ambulance service got daughter's date of death wrong in apology letter to mum
North Yorkshire police said it was responding to “reports of protest activity” and officers closed roads at the scene near Sunak’s family home in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton
The Northern Echo: Four protestors seen on the roof of Rishi Sunak's home.
Four protestors seen on the roof of Rishi Sunak's home. (Image: NNP)
A force spokesperson said: “At 8.06am this morning (August 3, 2023) we were made aware a number of protesters climbing onto the roof of the Prime Minister's home in Kirby Sigston.
“We have contained the area and no one has entered the building.
The Northern Echo: Police descended on the area.
Police descended on the area. (Image: NNP)
“At present there are four protesters on the roof of the property.
“The PM and his family are not at home.”
The Northern Echo: Protestors draped oil-black cloth down the side of the £2m mansion.
Protestors draped oil-black cloth down the side of the £2m mansion. (Image: NNP)
The demonstrators said they had draped the Prime Minister’s manor house in North Yorkshire with an oil-black fabric to “drive home the dangerous consequences” of his new policy on oil and gas.
The PM said earlier this week he would “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves and grant more than 100 new licences for extraction in the North Sea.
Read next:
Hotel near Darlington sparks fury as alcohol licence extended until 2am
Metrocentre restaurant closed just nine months after it first opened its doors
Restaurant tipped in Michelin guide announces shock closure as it thanks loyal diners
Get more from The Northern Echo now for just £6 for 6 months with a Premium Plus digital subscription. Click here
Greenpeace UK climate campaigner Philip Evans said: “We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist.
“Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling.
The Northern Echo: Police at Rishi Sunak's home after a Greenpeace protest.
Police at Rishi Sunak's home after a Greenpeace protest. (Image: NNP)
“He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points by sowing division around climate in this country. This is cynical beyond belief.
“More North Sea drilling will only benefit oil giants who stand to make even more billions from it, partly thanks to a giant loophole in Sunak’s own windfall tax.”
The Northern Echo: Protestors seen on the roof.
Protestors seen on the roof. (Image: NNP)
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