Good evening. On a day of Significant Developments for the enviroment and the economy, im in plymouth as we continue to report from different parts of the uk on stories that impact all of us. Tonight the focus is very much on the major changes to the governments green policies announced by the Prime Minister. Rishi sunak said the present approach would impose unacceptable costs on hard pressed families. But the decision has been criticised by some politicians and businesses. The Prime Minister has decided the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the uk will be pushed back from 2030 to 2035. He said there will be far more time to transition from gas boilers to heat pumps and that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme Grants will increase from £5,000 to £7,500, with a new exemption for people in the poorest households, so they never have to switch at all. But rishi sunak said he remains committed to the target of net zero by 2050 thats when the uk would no longer be adding to the total amount of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere. First tonight, our Political Editor chris mason is At Westminster. This time Last Night Westminster was digesting the leak we brought you of what rishi sunak was considering to announce. That meant there was very much in favour were already out making that argument and with passion. Those who were less keen, a battalion of the angry, were already assembling, and quite the Broad Coalition it was too, taking in the Motor Company forward to and the national trust. Motor Company Forward to and the nationaltrust. It Motor Company forward to and the national trust. It was the Prime Ministers chance this afternoon to actually set out what he wanted to do taking in the Motor Company ford. How we get about, how we live our lives, and the government in a flurry about it. So, all eyes on downing street. The Prime Ministers ideas having leaked, his Planned Speech rushed forward. Let me get straight to it. I know that people in our country are frustrated with our politics. I know they feel that much gets promised, but not enough is delivered. I know they watch the news or read the papers and wonder why, in the face of the facts as they have them, choices are made as they are. He said various green promises were unrealistic, even counterproductive, including this one. Im announcing today that were going to ease the transition to electric vehicles. Youll still be able to buy petrol and diesel cars and vans until 2035. Even after that, youll still be able to buy and sell them second hand. And heres his case for doing this, and more. The test should be do we have the fairest, credible path to Reach Net Zero by 2050, in a way that brings people with us . Now, since ive become Prime Minister, ive examined our plans, and i dont think they meet that test. We seem to have defaulted to an approach which will impose unacceptable costs on hard pressed british families, costs that no one was ever really told about. The person behind a lot of the stuff being diluted today was Boris Johnson, and hes not happy. In a statement, he said. They chant the Prime Minister hopes that for all the noisy opponents today, there are plenty more quietly thinking hes got it right. But the group that advises ministers on Emissions Targets is worried. The key thing for me is, you know, where where we be for this speech . Why were we before this speech . We were not in a great place, so we were not on track to hitting the legal targets, our last message to the government was they had to do more, and here we are today after the Prime Ministers speech, and it looks like its now going to be even harderfor us to get on track. This is the yorkshire dales, like many rural areas, lots of folks here are reliant on Oil Fired Boilers because they are not on the gas network. The plan until today was that from 2026, people couldnt have bought a new one. And would have had to get a heat pump instead. That wont happen now until 2035. The Prime Minister also said he would get rid of policies that would force landlords to upgrade Energy Efficiency in their homes. And from the detail, back to the argument. Number ten would have known this would divide the Conservative Party, and it has. Im much more concerned about affordability in a Cost Of Living crisis, with inflation still above 6 , on doing things that make peoples lives harder, and these targets are going to put costs on the british taxpayer, and im against that. There is no significant body in britain calling for us to reverse our ambition on this agenda, and it risks leaving the Conservative Party and the government on the wrong side of history. Borisjohnson Boris Johnson says borisjohnson says you are faltering. Businesses say youve robbed them of certainty, and one of your former cabinet colleagues suggested that this is putting you on the wrong side of history. Is this all because you are panicking about losing the election . So, look, lots of people are going to have their views, and i respect their right to disagree with me, but ultimately its incumbent on them to then explain to families up and down the country why, if they disagree with me, theyre willing to impose those costs. £10,000, £15,000 on those families, in pursuit of something when its not necessary. Labour said tonight it would reinstate the ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Just think of this, britain could lead the world in this, but the government has decided to throw that out of the window. And it will actually cost British Consumers more, because it costs more to fill up a car with petrol than it would be to power with electricity, so everyone is a loser from what rishi sunak has just announced. Fury and praise. Grabbing attention, seizing the agenda is what this is all about and, boy, it has certainly done that. The big question now, will it be popular . Chris mason, bbc news, At Westminster. The Prime Minister said delaying the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars would align the uk with countries like france and germany todays announcement will be a relief to some motorists. But a number of Car Manufacturers say the move brings confusion and uncertainty to their industry. Heres our Business Editor simonjack. Car makers have been working overtime and spending big to put batteries like these at the heart of the industry ahead of a ban of new petrol and diesel sales in 2030. Delaying that deadline by five years drew sharp criticism today from fords uk boss, who said it needed ambition, commitment and consistency from government, and todays announcement undermined all three. Moving, unpredictable deadlines deter investment, according to others. Who wants to invest in a country that continuously changes its mind, changes its policy . A lot of companies have invested a lot of money. But not all agree. Jaguar land rover said it brought the uk into line with france and germany, and toyota agreed that was pragmatic, while Vauxhall Owner Stellantis said todays announcement would not change their plans. But what might it do to Consumer Behaviour . Electric and hybrid sales have accelerated quickly. These numbers show the growth in new sales last year alone, but they still make up only 6 of all cars currently on the road. The 2030 ban was forcing new buyers into an early costly switch, according to driver groups. Drivers will be very, very happy about this because theyre not going to be forced into spending a lot of money on electric vehicles, which hopefully by 2035 will be come down to more reasonable levels. Thats the good thing about this. Opinions and the reasons for them was divided in staffordshire today. I think its a bad move because everyones pressing for the environment, you know, improvements and all the rest of it and its. Its going back. Ive just had to queue for over an hour to charge the car. Im going to have to wait an hour for the car to be charged. We just dont have the infrastructure for it. The right thing is help people, because its quite expensive. At the moment, Cost Of Living. It gives people more chance and time to maybe save up and move over to electric. 2030 was always considered ambitious, but it was also a date which drove car manufacturing, investment, charging, installation and Consumer Behaviour. Some companies whove invested hundreds of millions of pounds are furious. Some Consumer Groups may be relieved. But for businesses, Notjust In Transport but in housing and in heating, what they crave is certainty and predictability. And todays sudden change is anything but that. For both businesses and consumers, the speed on the road ahead has changed, but the government insists the destination remains the same. Simon jack, bbc news. And we can rejoin chris At Westminster now. He has been hit by a downpour, i hope you can hear me. How much of all this is about eyeing up an election next year . Welcome back to a sun kissed westminster. How much is about the election . All of it, i would say. The rishi sunak� s mild mannered demeanour today, this was a demolitionjob of the demeanour today, this was a Demolition Job of the instincts of previous conservative government, some of which he was part of, particularly those of Boris Johnson who mr sunak suggested had advocated policies that were shallow and ill thought through. He attempted to argue that what he was doing was pragmatic, sensible and reasonable and in so doing he was trying to set out a sense of his political creed, he was willing to take on problems that the political system, if you like, had been willing to avoid in the past. What we will get in the coming months as a series of political speeches from mr sunak that attempt to do that, that lean in any more progressively aggressive way from him but tried to make the case that the gap in the Opinion Polls between him and labour should narrow, his hope that he can be competitive come the general election. On green policies he has been met by a wall of criticism from many. He will hope that those with megaphones and those with expensive Pr Departments will make that critique but perhaps millions of others more quietly might reflect that he is on to something. That is the gamble, that he has to gamble because of the political position he is in. , a,. , because of the political position he isin. , is in. Chris mason, briefing the weather. Is in. Chris mason, briefing the weather, thank is in. Chris mason, briefing the weather, thank you. Is in. Chris mason, briefing the weather, thank you. Is in. Chris mason, briefing the| weather, thank you. Braving is in. Chris mason, briefing the weather, thank you. Braving the weather, thank you. Braving the weather. Our economics editor faisal islam is with me. The other big story today, a fall in inflation down from 6. 8 to 6. 7 and it was a big surprise. It turns out this is quite the spot to witness the inflationary waves hitting the economy, the petrol tank is passing byjust a couple of hours ago full of fuel for our cause that is increasingly expensive, or in the trawlers of fish where the prices is moderating. The government had expected inflation to go up, it fell, a ragged surprise, but is it a Turning Point . I have tested the water here in plymouth. The price of fish has been rising for two years. The latest figures show it is up 7 on last year, but it was closer to three times that at the beginning of 2023. For Plymouth Fishing Fleet owner ben, the cost of doing business remains sky high. Were all feeling it, arent we . You know, the employees and the general public, and on the trawlers, you know, theres only so far you can go with the fuel going up. You know, its very difficult and if it keeps going up, there is a strong chance that the uk fleet, some of the fishing boats, a lot of them, will get tied up. While these costs are passed on to all of us, at home and in restaurants, on the Royal William Dock Front at least they say they can see a Turning Point after three years of inflationary shocks. And what about food prices . They were going up very rapidly. Have they sort of levelled off now . Yeah, they are. I think, again, we try and purchase everything fresh. Theyre starting to kind of naturally level out and plateau, hopefully. I think there has to be a point where they need to be capped. Todays figures showed the rate of overall price rises, or inflation, easing to 6. 7 , better than expectations of a rise. It is still the highest of the major economies. Crucially, though, underlying measures of inflation, core inflation, which strips out food and energy, fell back significantly after being stubbornly high for months. Along the coast on the other side of plymouth, imports of petrol and diesel arrive and the tankers line up to fill up for delivery to stations across the region. Inflation literally passes through these pipes as prices head back up again. Over three years, we have had a relentless series of Global Inflationary shocks arriving on our shores and then that Inflation Hanging round the british economy longer than it has done for other, similar economies. Well, todays numbers seem to show the first signs of us shaking off that record, but other dangers lurk. The black clouds from the petrol and diesel markets, for example, which remain, as we retain our reliance on those fuels for our transport. The chancellor welcomed the figures as progress, but households and businesses such as this microbrewery say they arent Out Of The Woods yet. We have to be very, very diligent about which suppliers we use for which products, who is offering the best price of the day, and we do kind of split who we order our goods from, just based on who is offering it at what rate. The inflationary waves are still rough, but they have calmed enough for the likes of the Bank Of England to ponder a pause in the rise in Interest Rates. So tomorrow what does it mean for Interest Rates . For the past five or six months we have had bad news rises in inflation figures such as these. Today wasnt just about the headline rate, the underlying Inflation Rate showing how file it has risen through the economy, they fell more sharply and thats what the Bank Of England is watching to show or illustrate that their medicine is working. They will see this. We had expected it was a pretty done deal that Interest Rates would go up again tomorrow. That decision is now more finely balanced for tomorrow. Decision is now more finely balanced fortomorrow. Probably decision is now more finely balanced for tomorrow. Probably there will be a rise but there might not be. And after that, like hasjust happened in the usa, we think Interest Rates stay at these sorts of levels for some time to come. Thats the better news, not quite a Turning Point yet. Faisal islam, thank you. For the first time in the history of the nhs both consultants and Junior Doctors have been on strike today across england in their dispute over pay. The nhs says its having to pay millions of pounds to plug gaps in staffing. Here in plymouth one consultant was paid more than £3,000 to cover a 12. 5 hour Junior Doctor night shift. Heres our Health Editor hugh pym. A e on a double strike day. The same number of patients as usual but not so many doctors. They say Emergency Care is safely maintained but fewer medics elsewhere in the hospital causes bottlenecks. Our patients here in the department will have to wait longer to flow through the department to get into a bed. As a result, we may have delays in off loading ambulances and because ambulances cant off load, then they cant go out into the public and help other people. At the same time, we have more pressure in the department to see the patients who are backlogging in here. My role is to make sure that we are creating the right conditions. The Chief Executive told me just how many patients had been affected by all the strikes so far. Around 6,000 patients who weve had to cancel and re provide their booking for either outpatients or for some form of treatment and that has a really significant cumulative effect. This organisation has good teamwork and goodwill from our clinicians but clearly that is put under ongoing strain the longer the industrial action continues. This double w