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The PM is drawing up a wave of eye-catching announcements aimed at boosting his party\u2019s popularity \u2013 and exploiting Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s weaknesses. He will throw caution to the wind by entering policy areas where he believes his opponent will fear to tread.<\/p>\n
Buoyed by the public approval of his green climbdown, he aims to confront a range of other controversial issues head-on.<\/p>\n
Downing Street said he won\u2019t flinch from tackling difficult areas of public concern, regardless of the reaction from \u201ccommentator types on social media\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Sunak fired the starting gun on the general election campaign when he tore up the net zero timetable last week.<\/p>\n
The move outraged Left-wingers, TV pundits and establishment figures, with many claiming it would cost him votes when Britain goes to the polls next year.<\/p>\n
But an exclusive Sunday Express poll found seven in ten people would not be willing to accept lower living standards in order to meet climate change targers.<\/p>\n
Tory MPs believe an election victory is still within his grasp because not only are the middle classes indifferent towards Sir Keir, but \u201cworking class voters are actively hostile to him\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Sunak will deliver one of the most important speeches of his life next week when he takes the party conference stage in Manchester for the first time as Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Sunak and Starmer see popularity slump after net zero and Brexit row-backs<\/strong><\/p>\n MPs want policies they know Labour would never offer. These include:<\/p>\n \u2013 Scrapping the BBC licence fee;<\/p>\n \u2013 Pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights if the Supreme Court fails to give the green light to sending asylum seekers to Rwanda;<\/p>\n \u2013 Opening more grammar schools;<\/p>\n \u2013 A \u201cradical review\u201d of inheritance tax.<\/p>\n Mr Sunak has already said he is looking at an overhaul of A-levels and a shake up of tax-free saving schemes.<\/p>\n A Downing Street source said he would not shy away from controversy.<\/p>\n They said: \u201cThe PM knows the public want us to take the tough decisions in the long-term interests of our country rather than focus on the short-term political needs of the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t mind if his decisions are controversial if they are the right thing to do. He cares about what\u2019s best for working people across the country, not what the elite metropolitan ideology happens to be at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Stressing that the Prime Minister is ready for a battle, they said: \u201cThe PM is going to continue to show the British people he\u2019s on their side with a series of long-term decisions to deliver that change.<\/p>\n \u201cHe won\u2019t take the easy way out. He knows this is the greatest country on earth and he\u2019s determined to make the changes necessary to build a better future for our children.\u201d<\/p>\n Exclusive polling by WeThink for the Sunday Express shows a majority of voters share his conviction that people should not be impoverished in the push to achieve net zero carbon emissions.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> More than two thirds (67 per cent) of Britons said they would not accept a lower standard of living if it means carbon targets are met. This was true for 71 per cent of likely Conservative voters, 64 per cent of those planning to vote Labour and half of Green supporters.<\/p>\n His move to delay the ban on petrol and diesel vehicles has delighted many MPs.<\/p>\n A former Boris Johnson loyalist said: \u201cRishi is the most courageous Prime Minister in many decades in the sense that he\u2019s had the courage to take on the omnipotent Green lobby.\u201d<\/p>\n Sir John Hayes, chairman of the influential \u201ccommon sense\u201d group of socially conservative MPs, said: \u201cThe Prime Minister needs to be congratulated… People\u2019s wellbeing has to drive all the Government does.<\/p>\n \u201cTo sacrifice the wellbeing of people now for some questionable perception of a possible future is not how you restore people\u2019s faith in democratic government. This will restore people\u2019s belief that this Government and this Prime Minister understand the pressures they are facing with the cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Sunak believes voters\u2019 are \u201csick\u201d of seeing Labour shift position on major policies.<\/p>\n The Downing Street source said: \u201cHe knows people are sick of the kind of short term decisions making and political game-playing demonstrated every week by Labour. One week they back Brexit, the next they say they want to take us back into the EU\u2019s orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n A Tory MP who turned an iconic Labour seat from red to blue in 2019 said: \u201cMiddle class voters are agnostic about Starmer. Working class voters are actively hostile to him.\u201d<\/p>\n Labour routinely enjoys a poll lead over the Conservatives of around 20 points, but the first-term MP insisted all is not lost for the Tories.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the election was tomorrow we\u2019d lose badly,\u201d they said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is still time to turn it around. It\u2019s not game over.\u201d<\/p>\n Tory MPs are desperate for policies they can sell on the doorstep and are hoping for a string of exciting announcements at next week\u2019s conference.<\/p>\n A leading member of the centrist \u201cone nation\u201d group of Tory MPs said: \u201cThis conference will be crucial. Usually conferences don\u2019t make a difference but this one will.<\/p>\n \u201cRishi needs to show he has a vision for what the next five years of a Rishi government will look like.\u201d<\/p>\n A \u201cred wall\u201d MP who represents a former Labour stronghold said: \u201cI think we\u2019re like the rest of the country. We\u2019re hoping the Government is going to bring forward something stupendous.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Sunak\u2019s decisions on net zero have even won praise from MPs on the green wing of the party.<\/p>\n A senior Tory applauded him for \u201cditching the gesture politics\u201d, saying: \u201cI am a Conservative Environment Network, pro-net zero MP, but I thought Rishi was brilliant. Principled and pragmatic.\u201d<\/p>\n Veteran Conservative MP Sir Michael Fabricant said it was \u201cwise\u201d to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars at the same time as France and Germany, adding: \u201cThere is little point in damaging the livelihoods of the British simply to be the first when there isn\u2019t the infrastructure and we only generate one per cent of global emissions anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n A taskforce launched to accelerate home insulation and boiler upgrades has been disbanded following Mr Sunak\u2019s decision to axe energy efficiency regulations for landlords.<\/p>\n A Conservative insider stressed the importance of having policies that will strike a chord with northern voters.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we lose the North we lose the election,\u201d they said. \u201cIt\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n The insider claimed said that Sir Keir\u2019s recent performance on issues such as immigration and Brexit had strengthened hopes the Tories can hold onto power.<\/p>\n \u201cWe actually can win this election because we\u2019re up against somebody who\u2019s bad,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Conservatives are also increasingly aware of the consequences of a Labour win for the party and the country.<\/p>\n Sir John Hayes is appalled by Labour\u2019s pledge to give the Office for Budget Responsibility the power to publish its own assessments of major changes to tax and spending.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s ludicrous that an unelected, unaccountable Government body should have the whip hand on tax and spending,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tories are also concerned that if Labour won a large majority their own party would descend into internal conflict.<\/p>\n An insider predicted \u201ccarnage\u201d would result.<\/p>\n And an MP warned it would be \u201cfive years of Tories kicking the **** out of each other\u201d.<\/p>\n
Voters appreciate leaders who show guts and gumption writes Patrick O’Flynn[COMMENT] <\/strong>
PM poised to ban some people buying cigarettes in bid to make UK smoke-free[NEWS] <\/strong>
Rishi Sunak ‘must return to Tory values’ as MPs unite on PM’s ‘path to victory'[INSIGHT] <\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/secondary\/4974857.jpg?r=1695503409768\")
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