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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello this is the. >> your request the various government departments around here look into eight different potential policy switches related to the environment. >> i would say and it is hard to measure, but there are more people in the parliamentary party -- >> the united states has treated this crisis as an existential threat from the moment we took office. not only for us, but for all of humanity.

>> is rishi sunak walking back major green commitments? tonight speculation he will delay the n on sales of new petrol and diesel cars and the phase out of gas boilers. this went the you and warns leaders are failing on their net zero targets. also the biggest walkout so far from the uaw. and from paris, -- the bbc has learned that the prime minister is considering weakening some of the government's key green commitments and will argue that the u.k. has over delivered on

confronting climate change and that other countries need to pull their weight. among a number of core changes, rishi sunak is considering pushing back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 and the phasing out of all gas boilers by 2035 would be weakened also. instead, the government would only require 80% to be phased out by then. homeowners and land boards will be told there will be no regulations on homes. the prime minister is considering announcing these and other changes later this week. this was the green mp reacting. >> almost complete disbelief to be honest. it is so economically illiterate as well as being a prime example of environment of vandalism. >> our guest joins us from westminster. tell us what else is being considered? >> eight different policies are

being looked at. none of this is nailed down, but we are expecting speech from rishi sunak in the coming days. you mentioned some of the key ones, they are keeping on the table the idea of delaying the 2030 deadline of a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. several being pushed back for production of electric boilers as opposed to gas boilers. many departments are involved to work out how this might happen in practice. clearly, a major shift in policy from rishi sunak. he is insisting on the one hand that he wants to press ahead with the wider initiative of net zero by 2050 but it's the individual things that affect people that will have to be looked at again. conservative mps some are quite happy. some saying this is quite

practical that people should not have to be asked to pay huge amounts of money for the transition to net zero but others are incandescent. take for example one who offered a wide range of reports, he said this the greatest mistake of rishi sunak's premiership. >> is this becoming -- we've seen just how damaginto labor's chances that was. does the prime minister think that by easing the green levees and lifting the onus of some of these measures on working-class people that that might win him some votes in the poll? >> that's right one of the conservative mps i spoke to was the mp from oxbridge. he said he was getting this message loud and clear on the doorstep that these things are going too far and too fast in terms of net zero.

that by victory, a light in the darkness for rishi sunak. he is still miles behind labor party in the polls. here is someone who talk time and time again about how he really cared about climate change, it was something his daughters kept bringing up to him. although he wants to hit the main target, he is clearly thinking really hard about how he can ease the impact on ordinary households. he needs to make a splash. in order to try to change the political whether, it will get tongues wagging off the people are already reacting to it. he will hope this sets up the dividing line between himself and the labour party. >> put it in the wider context. we had a big conference here in

glasgow not that long ago where boris johnson was leading the world on net zero targets. today, the u.n. is saying world leaders are hopelessly hide the targets they set themselves. here we have one of the world leaders, the u.k. watering down so many of its targets. how will that be seen in new york? >> it will probably not be perceived particularly well internationally. we are told rishi sunak -- that he will say the u.k. has done more compared to competitor countries and it is time for other countries to take their fair share when it comes to climate change. some conservative mps have been saying the timescale we are talking about with petrol and diesel cars put us on par with equivalent countries so thats a sensible approach to take but there is a real risk for rishi sunak internationally, it looks like he is rolling back on something that the u.k. likes to think it has led the world on.

>> thank you for that. we will get more on that in the course of the program. the route to 10 downing street lies through the streets of the north not preparest. but today, the opposition leader took his top team to the palace to meet emmanuel macron. it is fair to assume that given the commanding lead the labor has in the polls, he has a good chance of becoming the next reddish prime minister. he was pictured here with french business leaders during the morning but no green and grip on the steps of the palace. rules of diplomacy would suggest that attention should be steered toward those in power but the fact that he got the invitation suggests france and europe working to know what a labor government might need main --

might mean for your relations. >> to say how much i value the relationship between our two countries particularly when it comes to prosperity and security and how if we are privileged enough to be elected into power, i intend to build on that relationship and make it even stronger than it is today. >> our guest is an author at the u.k. interchanging your tank. is this normal for opposition leaders to visit chancellors in europe ahead of an election? >> it's indicative of an opposition who fancies their chances of winning the next election. what i think this really tells us is that he is starting to introduce his project, to present himself as a likely candidate to be in office next year. in order to win a general election, you have to appr prime ministerial.

to do that you have to tort capitals overseas anmeet leaders especially in a context where in history reach leaders have not always been welcome in the palace or other halls of power in europe. >> you made mention of perhaps a political opportunity. he might be looking at the polls because there is some suggestion that opinions about brexit have slumped in recent months. is there doozy has him within the seats that would need to win to become prime minister? >> labors brexit position is a calculated gamble which tries to balance the interests of its core voter base which is generally very pro-european typically affluent based in southern seats with what you might call a traditional base that predominantly voted for brexit but according to the

polls, don't think that's necessarily going that well. they think that it's kind of tied up with the economic performance of the u.k.. so labor thanks there might be a space to turn -- start talking about fundamentally changing the relationship, not rejoining on the single market but having single deals might take the edge off of some of the economic damage of brexit and it thinks it can offer those up without alienating redwall voters because they've also felt the economic effects of leaving. >> he has been in the hague to talk about the gang's spending small boats across the channel. he has been to montreal and now paris. is this an attempt to shift public opinion about him to make him look me like a prime minister and the leader of an opposition? >> i think it is that, yes. frankly it wouldn't be possible

to nail down the policy proposals in these types of meetings because as you were saying in introduction, protocol dictates those items should be discussed with the government of the day. the notion of being prime ministerial can matter. he is about 10 points ahead of rishi sunak in terms of who voters think will be the better prime minister. i think he strengthened nail down the idea of him being serious states person. >> thank you for that. we will focus through the program on his visit to paris. let's return to the top story because we told you the prime minister is expected in the next few days to make a far-reaching announcement on some of his climate plans. our environment climate correspondent -- editor is here with me. who better to cast his eye over what is being proposed?

he says that he's not ditching his net zero targets. how do you balance that with rolling back the targets you have set yourself? >> essentially what he is saying is we will delay it, we will do it later. but if you delay it till later, you have to do more more quickly in the future. he's creating a problem for a future governmen he might say that's their problem, but it is a problem for the country and for the world if we water down our climate commitments in this way. it's an interesting position. >> he says other countries need to do their did which is a common refrain. why do we need to go faster? what's wrong with that argument? >> one argument is that there are benefits for us cutting carbon now. it means we potentially have a lead in key industries, industries that the rest of the world will need to use.

for example, we been trying to build up an electric car industry in britain. any car companies have said they want hard targets for cutting petrol and diesel cars. think about it, you are spending millions o pounds retooling your factory to create these cars, you want to make sure there's a market for them. is also a that britain has boasted of the fact that britain leads on cutting carbon. that's been serious, to look at the way we managed the cop26 conference. it has applicable benefits. there is a moral argument. we created the industries that are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. those were the kind of arguments that people will use to push back against the point that we are a very small percentage.

>> the secretary-general tells a story that it's the hottest summer we've ever lived through on record. the droughts and flooding, this is the story. president biden even said we need to go faster on fossil fuels. they keep saying this. but they do the reverse in reality. >> there is a problem particularly with democratic politicians. these are tough decisions to make. there are sections of the electorate that are opposed to these kinds of measures. if you don't agree with the kinds of arguments i've been making in favor of cutting carbon now and they are pushing back. there's an electoral argument that there is benefit to be had by delaying the measures and it's hard for democratic politicians to hold the line on tough issues like tackling climate change. >> there is a thing called green lash where you see voters, we

saw that with the yellow vests in france and the recent vote in spain, where people yes they understand the science behind climate change, but they don't want to pay the price. >> we appear to be at the beginning of a tipping point where actually it will soon become cheaper for example with electric vehicles to have the electric vehicle. we are seeing china produce extraordinarily cheap electric vehicles with the kind of range that would make them a marketable product in britain. if the dish industry can't compete those kinds of products, we won't have a car industry in this country. a hundred thousand people employed directly or indirectly in the car industry, that is important. >> so you have to make the economic argument before the climate argument? >> it will take a while for the industry to retool but they are saying we want the commitment.

the industry wants it but maybe there is a political discomfort at the moment. maybe the longer term better policy for the country might be to stick to the commitment to banning the vehicles. >> think you for being with us. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making news. global oil prices have reached their highest level in 10 months. brent crude rose above $95 per barrel on tuesday. two of the largest exporters -- the international energy agency has warned of a shortfall by the end of the year. spain's far right party abandoned session in protest at the approval of a bill that had been a long held objective of

the parties from regions in the north with bilingual populations. for the first time or than one in 10 people in japan are aged 80 or older. u.n. says the country has the world's oldest population as your by the proportion of people age 65 or older. japan also has one of the world most birthrates despite the recent efforts to increase that. you are live with bbc news. nhs consultants walked off the job this morning at the start of another 40 strike over pay. they will be joined by junior doctors tomorrow and that will mean hospitals will be reduced to a level of service that we normally only see on christmas day. almost 900,000 appointments or hospital procedures have had to be rescheduled in england since staff first begin the strikes in december. charlie is undergoing treatment

for breast cancer. she spoke to our health editor earlier. >> i had a 30 day wait between having a scan and deceiving the results of the scan. you can imagine it' psychologically very difficult. there is a lot of anxiety in the lead up to a scan and also to getting results. that's really difficult as the patient having increased anxiety from delays. anxiety around childcare and life. the thought of this industrial action continuing or even increasing is really really worrying. >> it is now 180 days since they held talks over pay and there is no indication the government is prepared to go beyond the 8.8% they've offered the junior doctors. the government announced it intends to order doctors off get lines to maintain a minimum

level of service the new regulations which apply in six areas of the economy would come in here and mean that future doctors and nurses would have to provide a certain level of cover if served with a work notice by their employer. let's speak to our health editor. 7.8 million people already on waiting list at the end of july. the nhs confederation said they expected to cancel more appointments and operations than ever before. what is the advice to people who might be expected to go into hospital this week? >> it's very difficult as we heard from charlie who has breast cancer. she has had her surgery, but she needs scans and follow-up appointments. certainly a couple of them have been affected by the strike. it will be affecting quite a large range of people if it continues. this industrial action by groups

of doctors with no obvious sign of resolution. it could well continue for several months. rishi sunak has said that his pledge to reduce nhs waiting list is now very much in doubt and he has blamed the doctors union the british medical association, they have hit back at the prime minister saying that's a cheap shot and waiting list were rising anyway before the pandemic and certainly after it and it is wrong to blame their action. for the acrimonious state of affairs with most widespread strike by junio and senior doctors taking place on wednesday for 24 hours. >> can we talk about change to the strike rule, a minimum level of service. how would that work? >> there's already legislation that is going through parliament

for the government to be able to introduce minimum service levels in a range of public sector workplaces not just in health. now, t health secretary covering england has gone out to consultation on how this might be applied to frontline doctors and nurses. and other staff who are involved in clinical areas covering urgent care, that there would be defined nuers of those clinicians who would be required to work during strikes to cover urgent care. at the moment, the arrangement is life and limb cover has to be organized and the unions have to agree to that but it has negotiated that locally. he wants a standard set of regulations. the union has come back and said we are providing safe cover anyway and more regulations are not needed and this is just another attempt by the government to undermine their position. >> the consultants will probably

say in normal times they are working under normal level of service so that's probably why they are striking. if doctors didn't come off the strike and if they were in defiance of the work order that was presented to them, could they be sacked? >> that is a possibility that is being discussed since this proposal emerged although union could be sued. all this has to be worked out and that's why it has gone out for consultation. it's not entirely clear at this stage how it will work in practice, but in theory if doctors have to be in the workplace under the law under these regulations, then they would be subject to proceedings. the point still being made is that is precisely what junior doctors and consulnts have agreed to do during their joint strike. in other actions, they will provide urgent care coverage,

christmas day coverage as they call it. it may say it's wrong for the government to come in with what they say are heavy-handed regulations. >> we were talking earlier in the program about a visit to paris and the news this week that he would like to look again at the brexit arrangements. there is speculation today that he would want improved deals on recognition for professionals and veterinary relations at the border but could he go further? it's a coincidence perhaps that today france and germany have introduced new tears for membership. our guest is a writer for politico. so you can have bronze membership of the eu? >> basically. [laughter] the idea if he could have four concentric circles of membership

of more or less loose association. the deeper circle will be countries that want to move forward with evermore integration meaning new taxes, a fiscal union. the second circle would be the eu as we currently know it. with its parliament and the commission but not necessarily fiscal union. the third circle would be associate members and the authors of this report that france and germany presented today say that the u.k. could be one of these associate members meaning they could be part of the market, it could trade with the eu, but it wouldn't have to participate in the political union and it wouldn't have a. >> what about joining the euro? >> if you are an associate member, you would be like switzerland or norway. you would be allowed to trade

but you wouldn't join any of the applicable programs. >> from pages today say you wouldn't get it because there is no appetite in brussels to start talking about brexit again. but perhaps, this might be a solution. >> we have to remember this paper officially is not french or german, it is written by a group of experts. it is clearly like a kit they are flying because it was presented by france and germany and commissioned by those countries. the french eu affairs minister was asked today about the prospects for the u.k. rejoining and she repeated the line that you always hear from brussels which is our doors open but the u.k. has to make up their mind of what they actually want. >> yes, the door is always open.

we will see wherthat goes. u.k. wanting all the benefits and none of the rules, they've been accused of that in the narrator: nding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.