Mary Glindon MP: The transition to net zero emissions needs to be properly cushioned

The Commons started its summer recess last week. Running repairs on its crumbling innards will now turn it into a building site. Age explains the need for this. Prime Minister Sunak has no such excuses for the repair job on his party’s reputation needed after his massive by-election defeats last week.

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His party was monstered in two by-elections with Labour achieving a massive gain in the North Yorkshire seat of Selby and Ainsty.

Understandably, Sunak prefers to focus on keeping the Uxbridge seat in outer London. It was a very narrow majority of under 500 votes, but the expansion of an ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) enabled his party to cling on by its fingernails.

The irony is that Ulez was the brainchild of a Conservative Mayor of London and the former MP for Uxbridge, one Boris Johnson.

A big problem for voters was the miserly scrappage available to those with older cars. This is because ministers deliberately limited scrappage funding which national government should provide.

But there are wider lessons for those who seek to reduce our carbon footprint as we must. Record temperatures in southern Europe show a grim future for us too.

But we must be very careful in how we promote and implement measures to boost clean air and tackle the climate emergency. We must address the concerns of voters and properly cushion the transition to net zero.

Mary Glindon is Labour MP for North Tyneside