As polls predict disaster, Rishi Sunak resorts to project fear by scrapping policies that never existed

The Prime Minister has decided that having a planet is bad, actually.

Rishi Sunak has watered down the UK Government’s climate commitments while repeatedly insisting he wasn’t watering down the UK Government’s climate commitments.

Holding a press conference announced on the day following an emergency cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister made a series of increasingly false statements that confirm, beyond any doubt, the Conservatives are on an election footing.

His words were, fittingly in the circumstances, a masterclass in gaslighting, conjuring up a series of insane proposals his Government would bravely be scrapping, despite calls from, well, that much wasn’t quite clear.

Gone were plans to separate your rubbish into seven bins, which was never proposed, abandoned were new taxes on meat, which weren’t ever considered, the concept of enforced car sharing was also scrapped, despite never existing in the first place.

Mr Sunak sought to portray himself as the voice of reason, while at the same time vowing to oppose things he’d entirely made up. These are not just my views, but those of numerous Tories, with both Sir Simon Clarke and Conservative former environment minister Lord Goldsmith suggesting the policies he is scrapping “simply do not exist”.

Responding to Mr Goldsmith's criticism, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch suggested he was too rich to understand. That Mr Sunak is the 222nd richest man in the country and a billionaire somehow escaped her. Rich people who agree, good. Rich people who don't, bad.

Thankfully for Mr Sunak, he found some support in the room through the cabinet colleagues who were presumably marched at gunpoint into the room, applauding his words with all the sincerity of friends at an open mic night.

This was a leader so far behind Labour, at least 20 points for what feels like forever, he needed something, anything to save his premiership. In lieu of hope, in the absence of ideas to lift people out of poverty and address the cost of living, the vibes over policy Prime Minister instead resorted to Project Fear. What this also entails, however, much like the “Turkey is joining the EU” poster he and his cabinet colleagues endorsed, is deceit, misdirection, or outright lies.

Announcing measures that will cost more in the long term by delaying the green revolution, Mr Sunak claimed his approach would make things cheaper. With a straight face, he talked about a lack of scrutiny over climate policies, while announcing them when parliament isn't sitting, where there would be scrutiny. He said this wasn’t about playing politics, one hour before CCHQ sent an email to journalists titled “Questions to Labour on net zero”.

Ultimately, the future of this planet, let alone the country, has been considered less important than winning the backing of voters who do not support net zero. It will work, to a degree (or many degrees given global warming…) but is still unlikely to keep him in Downing Street.

Schools are collapsing, people are worried about winter and desperate for some hope, guidance, or a future they can believe in. Mr Sunak’s press conference was instead about the politics of fear, putting short-term gains above things such as having a world to live on.

Still, you can’t lose an election if the planet is under water.