Reform promises net zero referendum to pile pressure on Sunak

‘The general election is a referendum on migration, culture, taxation, our Army, pensioners and the NHS’

REFORM UK has pledged to hold a referendum on net zero in a fresh challenge to Rishi Sunak.

Richard Tice said his party will support a Brexit-style national poll on the 2050 climate target, which he has argued is damaging the economy and voters’ lives. Mr Sunak ruled out a referendum on the issue last summer following pressure from Tory MPS to “rethink” the policy.

In 2022, Mr Tice and Nigel Farage, the honorary president of Reform, were involved in “Vote Power, Not Poverty”, a short-lived campaign group calling for the public to have its say on green targets that were first enshrined in law by Theresa May.

Committing his political party to the same pledge, Mr Tice told The Telegraph: “We have supported this for two years but Sunak ruled it out a few months ago. We still support it.”

Lee Anderson, a former deputy Tory party chairman who defected last month to become Reform’s first MP, added: “The general election is a referendum on net zero, migration, culture, education, taxation, our Armed Forces, pensioners and the NHS. Vote Reform and sort out the above.” A Government source told The Telegraph in response: “Under the Conservatives, we are the first major economy to halve our emissions. We’ve done this in a pragmatic way, whilst growing our economy and shielding families from the unnecessary costs and extra taxes which Labour want to impose.”

Last August, Mr Sunak insisted there was “broad support” for a “common sense” path to net zero by 2050 despite the Government postponing a number of shorter-term green objectives, including a five-year delay to the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars.

Asked by ITV whether he would give the public a say on the targets, he said: “Most people are committed to getting to net zero but getting there in a proportionate and pragmatic way. That seems to me the common sense approach to doing this that has broad support.”

Yougov polling from summer 2023 showed 71 per cent of voters support the overall net zero target, suggesting Reform would face an uphill battle were a referendum to take place. Sixty-three per cent of Conservative voters back the target, compared to 29 per cent who opposed, falling to 61 per cent to 28 per cent among those who voted for Brexit.

The existing net zero goal was backed by Boris Johnson at the 2019 election, and the Tory manifesto included the pledge: “Reaching net zero by 2050, with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution”.

Mr Tice’s promise yesterday marked the latest move by Reform to outflank the Conservatives on the right. Its other policies include a “one in, one out” immigration plan, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and sweeping cuts to levies including corporation tax and inheritance tax.

Reform is polling as high as 16 per cent, within a handful of percentage points of the Tories. Hostilities have escalated between the two parties in recent days, with Mr Tice telling a Tory MP who was critical of his candidates to “pipe down”, leading Richard Holden, the Conservative chairman, to accuse him of being a “threatening bully”.

It came as a poll by the Legatum Institute found more than two in five voters currently planning to vote for Reform were more likely to opt for the Conservatives if they promised a national referendum on immigration.