Yesterday. That was like the footballers of Manchester City. One. Do you like newcastle . Drew id like to do that. Like that. Like that, yes. Manchester forecast. Id like to get it the wrong way round. Manchester city three Red Star Belgrade one you know, and just keeps you on your toes. Lovely. I hope we keep you your i hope we keep you on your toes until 9 30 today. Gb views. Cbnnews. Com are you can tweet or x or do what you want at. X or do what you want at. Gb news. Well, good morning to you. Our top story this morning and Prime Minister rishi sunak is pushing back against the net zero agenda as he delays the ban on petrol cars and gas boilers. On petrol cars and gas boilers. Those still committed to net zero by 2050 is the year. He said that the government has not been honest about the cost, cost and trade offs of these sort of green policies. Well, lets cross now to westminster, where our deputy Political Editor tom harwood has more. Look, the Prime Minister is set to make a big speech about all of this on friday. Hell be pretty miffed that this has been leaked and hes on the back foot in all of this, not least love it its because least love it that its because senior , why would he be senior tory mps, why would he be quoted as as being quoted as being as being outraged by it this morning . Yes yes. Clearly, theres some pushback to this policy. Pushback to this policy. However, this has been in the works behind the scenes in number 10 for some time. Works behind the scenes in number 10 for some time. There number 10 for some time. There have have been people around the Prime Minister arguing to slow down on some of the more immediate elements of that net zero transition ever since really that uxbridge by election where the conservatives unexpectedly held on to a seat there , Boris Johnsons former there, Boris Johnsons former seat in london, of all places, a seat in london, of all places, a seat that the labour party was expected to pick up. And the tories, of course, put their victory down to their anti ultra low emission Zone Campaign pain. They believe that of course the country wants to go towards net zero by 2050, but there are different ways in which the country can get there and there have been those around the Prime Minister who have been arguing that some of the more immediate elements of that transition , elements of that transition, some of the more costly elements of that transition should be rolled back upon. And i believe that the Prime Minister feels that the Prime Minister feels that he has some cover, particularly with regard to what were expecting, not yet confirmed, but expecting to be a delay on the ban of internal Combustion Engine vehicles, petrol and diesel cars, because no less than the germans have done precisely the same thing. The german government, of course, has the green party within that government and theyve delayed their petrol and diesel car ban from 2030 to 2035. There are those in government in number 10 who believe that gives them a certain amount of political cover for the United Kingdom to do the same. Do the same. Bob well, is it it makes messaging, would you say, tom, given that just in the last few days here on gb news, weve been talking about this investment from the government and ellesmere indeed in Ellesmere Port and indeed in oxfordshire all oxfordshire on the mini and all these cars , and then these electric cars, and then were saying, well, actually another until another five years until well even them. Even need them. Well, it does seem on the face of it, like there are some elements of contradiction within the governments policy. Of course, there were elements of these green policies that were in the conservatives 2019 managed festo, although i suppose there have been some other elements of the manifesto that the conservative party has rowed back on in recent years. But also i believe the government would respond to that by saying that theyre not banning people from buying electric cars, theyre just delaying the ban on petrol and diesel cars. The government would expect that the number of electric cars being sold will still increase in this period, but just perhaps not to the 100 by 2030. That was expected , by 2030. That was expected, perhaps a slightly lower but still increase percentage. The other perhaps more immediate element to this is, of course, the proposed ban on gas boilers due to come in in new homes in 2026. Now that is a very sharp deadune 2026. Now that is a very sharp deadline and perhaps we could be more confident in predicting that the Prime Minister will delay that one a little bit later this week to be interesting to hear from you, tom, that germany has already delayed this rollout date against a diesel and whatever theyre called, combustion cars or whatever, petrol. But however , ill ask you but however, ill ask you ill ask our viewers and listeners today what does this do when it comes to your investment . Not that a car is an investment. And next time around, would you immediately buy an electric car or would you delay it for a while . And i think tom looks to me as if hes not a driver for. Right. Am i right there . Youre sort of. You look , you dont look like a man look, you dont look like a man that has a car. Young walker. Young walker. Yeah. Yeah so isabel and i are drivers. Are drivers. I dont have a parking space. I dont have a parking space. Yeah , fair enough. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah. Yeah, its reality. Yeah. Yeah, its reality. And charging space and all sorts of things like that. And i think a lot of people will suddenly say, look, next car, ill go petrol or diesel. But well just delay the electric thing. A while. Thats a fair assumption. So do let us know. But eamonn, in all in all of this, there is of course a confounding factor and thats that theres likely to be an election next year. So whatever the Prime Minister this week minister announces this week about dates in 2026 or 20 30 or 2035, it might not be him that makes the final call. I was scratching my head about why hed decided to make this decision, given that it will stoke up the debate around his green credentials and rouse within votes. But its a within his own votes. But its a legally binding on him, isnt it, to explain how they will reach their 2050 net zero target . So they have to announce all of these things which actually might not be good when it comes to the election. Is that Fair Assessment that i think thats a totally Fair Assessment and no doubt we will hear mitigating other measures from the Prime Minister, perhaps government investment. Weve heard some noises about Carbon Capture and storage, of course, in the past. There are course, in the past. There are different ways by which the country can get to net zero by 2050 and indeed different glide paths by which the country can get to net zero by 2050. Do we front load that glide path , do front load that glide path, do more things earlier , or do we more things earlier, or do we perhaps hold our cross our fingers and wait for new technologies for electric cars to get cheaper for all the rest of it . Maybe new inventions to come along the line in the next ten or 15 or 20 years. It could be that the government is back loading some of this net zero by 2050 stuff rather than front loading it. Well, ill go out on a limb here. I dont think anybodys going to vote against the government for saying well give you another five years or so to hold on to your existing car or to stay petrol or diesel. I think when people look at the effect that a country like the uk has in comparison to india or china or russia or brazil or whatever, we are nothing but pimples on the backside of humanity and wont make a difference , nor will the 20 mile difference, nor will the 20 mile an hour zone in wales that have been introduced. This week. Its like its like, have you got nothing else better to spend your money on . Mark drayford than a 20 mile an hour zone . Its not going to make a darn bit of difference. I do understand in terms of safety, but in terms of the environment and pollution levels and whatever nil zero squat, forget it. It. I have to ask it. I have to ask you, it. I have to ask you, tom, whilst were talking about, you know, whether or not this will actually become the situation in 2030 or 2035, depending on what happensin 2030 or 2035, depending on what happens in the general election next year, about sir keir starmer hes obviously been out sort gladhanding europe , sort of gladhanding in europe, talking macron. Explain to us talking to macron. Explain to us about this associate member for offer that the eu seems to be cooking up and i know tony blair is believed to have organised this meeting between these two. What starmers response are we led to believe to being associate members of the eu and what does it mean . Yes , its interesting. While yes, its interesting. While the labour leader was meeting the labour leader was meeting the french president , there were the french president , there were european bureaucrats meeting , of european bureaucrats meeting, of course, in brussels. Where else who seem to have put together this sort of four tier level of eu membership. The core eurozone, which of course the United Kingdom was never a part of, then the eu. 27 or 28 of, then the eu. 27 or 28 outside of that. But within the European Union structure, ever closer union, all the rest of it and then a third other looser tier which might well be described perhaps as Single Market membership, although perhaps it wouldnt be sold that way. Associate member status is the idea being floated down the hallways of brussels , which hallways of brussels, which could be having half an eye to countries like the United Kingdom, norway , switzerland, kingdom, norway, switzerland, some of those other European Countries that arent members of the European Union , although the the European Union, although the labour party is saying that that was not on the table in the meeting between sir keir starmer and emmanuel macron. And theyll be very wary about trying to say that theyre going after some sort of associate member status or or a step towards eu membership. What sir keir starmer was careful in saying in his interviews yesterday was that hes just looking to get a better deal, although of course he wasnt clear on the specifics there. So eyebrows will be raised. Tom, leave it there. Thank tom, leave it there. Thank you very much indeed. A lot to talk about there. A lot for you at home to consider and work out. And i ask you this. At home to consider and work out. And i ask you this. Maybe out. And i ask you this. Maybe you were a committee brexiteer and you think this is the right thing to do. Now, a couple of thing to do. Now, a couple of years on, are you still thinking that way . Because it would just be interesting. Keir starmer and hes looking for this. Its like going to the golf club and you say, dont want the full say, i dont want the full membership, take a wee membership, but ill take a wee bit membership, bit of associate membership, which means i can play on a wednesday and a sunday morning which means i can play on a wesomething1d a sunday morning which means i can play on a wesomething1d a that,ay morning which means i can play on a wesomething1d a that,ay myou ng or Something Like that, and you get benefits on those days which is is there way of is all. Okay. Is there a way of you sort of thinking right initially i wanted brexit, not sure now, but i would accept a keir starmer associate membership of europe or not is if it involves Free Movement. If it involves Free Movement. I guarantee our viewers and brexiteer viewers will say are not interested. And i have not interested. And i have a feeling this will all come down to the Free Movement of people, which is one of the big five pillars of the European Union. So i think its a checkmate. So i think its a checkmate. Once again, let me tell you, ireland, you talk about Free Movement of people, the migration situation in southern ireland is at breaking point. Ireland is at breaking point. There is a lot of disdain. Theres a lot of uncomfort there about the amount of migrants that are coming in and upsetting the whole sort of balance of the irish nation. So thats not popular to speak about. But that really is bubbling under the surface. So they have got that surface. So they have got that situation , we have got that situation, we have got that situation, we have got that situation and were not even in europe and so everybodys suffering from this this migration all around the world. Oh, problems, problems, problems. And its only 613 Junior Doctors and consultants will unite to take joint strike action today. This is the first action today. This is the first time in the history of the nhs thousands of members up and down the country will walk out of hospitals, leaving many of them on Christmas DayStaffing Levels. Our north west of england. Reporter sophie reaper has more i today, for the First Time Ever , a walkout by both junior ever, a walkout by both Junior Doctors and consult patients with thousands of appointments set to be cancelled. Bold and set to be cancelled. Bold and unprecedented levels of disruption across the nhs staff on strike feel they have no other choice. Other choice. I do not want to be on an industrial action. I do not want to come here. I would like to be in my place of work, serving my patients. But thats forced me to come out so that our voice is heard. It is not fair. All what we need here is a fair pay. But with the nhs forced to operate under Christmas Day levels of staffing , questions levels of staffing, questions have been raised about the potential impact this could have across the board. Across the board. We definitely owe a duty of care to our patients. You know, care to our patients. You know, weve weve been working hard to serve our patients. In fact , serve our patients. In fact, what were doing is , as we said, what were doing is, as we said, protection. We all will need the nhs at some point if we let it collapse. Were all going to be losing the British Medical Association is calling for a full pay restoration, but what exactly does that mean . Well, they say when you take inflation into account, both Junior Doctors and consultants have faced a major real terms pay have faced a major real terms pay cut in recent years. And now they want a pay rise in line with inflation. However, the government says theyve already implemented a 6 pay rise for both of those professions. And now there are no more offers on the table. The table. We met the bmas number one ask, which was the extremely generous changes to pension taxation. That was the key thing that the bma asked for. We accepted in full the recommendations of the pay review body process, but its also right that we have a safety net to protect patients alongside recognising peoples right to strike as concerns for nhs waiting times grow. Now the government is now preparing to pass legislation that would protect Critical Services from strike action. People have the right to strike. We recognise thats an important right, but we also protect time Critical Services in hospital like chemotherapy , in hospital like chemotherapy, like dialysis. My priority is patients and the bma should be calling off these strikes and focusing on patients. But with thousands of bma Union Members set to walk out over the coming days is morning and the governments remaining firm on what it can offer. It seems that for now at least, the dooris seems that for now at least, the door is closed on negotiations as sophie reaper gb news says. Now these strikes awful and they add to the waiting list and whatever it is. But are they going to drag on forever . Is the government going to settle . Are government going to settle . Are their demands unreasonable . And their demands unreasonable . And what have you got to do to make if i was in the trade union or i was leader of the trade union, id be saying this is useless, this is pointless. Just dragging these strikes on and on and on because people get used to them. The finds ways to adapt. The nhs finds ways to adapt. Theres to be something theres got to be something serious and hard that really makes people go, oh my goodness me, yeah. Me, yeah. Theres an argument that the unions are losing in all of this, but also it hardens the position of the government and were now seeing them consulting on bringing in this minimum level of service, which obviously are obviously the unions are absolutely arms about. Absolutely up in arms about. So were again, this kind of checkmate you just feel checkmate where you just feel like any like no ones making any progress and progress either way. And as a country, were stuck country, were just stuck languishing nhs languishing whilst the nhs suffers and all of this goes on. Yeah. Im saying. Yeah. So thats what im saying. Its frustrating situation, its a frustrating situation, isnt wonder, does the isnt it . I wonder, does the industrial action have to become harder, more severe, more shocking for anyone to move in . Anybody . Anybody . Youre asking . 35 and a youre asking . 35 and a joint joint. Well, well , youre asking . 35 and a joint joint. Well, well, i youre asking . 35 and a joint joint. Well, well , i keep joint joint. Well,