Rishi Sunak’s rollout of his new energy plan on Monday degenerated into a heated exchange on BBC Radio Scotland as the prime minister angrily defended his plans for new North Sea drilling and his frequent use of private aviation.
Before jetting up to Aberdeenshire, Mr Sunak was grilled by presenter Martin Geissler who complained he had been given only five minutes by No10 for the interview.
The prime minister said that was a “strange way” to begin, and the interview ended with him accusing Mr Geissler of wanting to ban foreign holidays, after the presenter asked why he was taking a private jet to tout a “green” plan.
“I’ll be flying as I normally would and that’s the most efficient use of my time,” Mr Sunak said.
“But actually that question brings to light a great debate here, if you or others think that the answer to climate change is getting people to ban everything that they are doing, to stop people going on holiday, I mean, I think that’s absolutely the wrong approach.”
The prime minister also hit back at Conservative critics who are calling on him to delay the 2030 ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles.
“Yeah, that’s been the Government’s policy for a long time. It remains the Government’s policy,” he said.
“But what I have said more generally on my approach, is that we will transition to net zero, I’m committed to it, but we will do it in a proportionate and pragmatic way that doesn’t necessarily add burden or cost to families’ bills, particularly at a time when inflation is higher than any of us would have liked.”
Mr Sunak added that his plan for new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea would help Britain achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 - which is another policy in the firing line for Tory rebels.
“Even when we reach net zero in 2050 a quarter of our energy needs will still come from oil and gas,” he said.
Condemning Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, the prime minister insisted: “We don’t want to be in hock to dictators like that when it comes to our energy.”
