It threatens to ignite a climate election.  It matters, because now, suddenly, one party can point out the absurdities and the costs. They can be an Opposition, and mock the sacred cows. That doesn't mean Sunak will do that, but the fork in the road has opened, the world is watching — and his party is suddenly up four points.

The Green funds cartel is "in shock" sayth Bloomberg, at the Sunak shift — so it must be pretty serious.  Green investors are using the words "dismay" and "bewilderment", which they almost never use. Green investment relies almost entirely on crowd psychology and government subsidies, so normally bad news is padded and fluffed so it doesn't look so bad. We wouldn't want to lose momentum would we? Boy are they losing momentum.

Meanwhile Sweden has not only cut climate money a bit, it's unshackled some taxes off fossil fuels as well, leaving the centre left apoplectic and threatening to move motions of no-confidence. It is unthinkable, apparently, but Sweden might even increase emissions.

Germany has suspended draconian building efficiency standards and stepped back from their full gas boiler ban. They had wanted to ban all new "fossil" heaters from 2024, but after fierce protests, have instead brought in a much diluted and delayed version due to be adopted in 2028.  President Emmanuel Macron must have been watching the German and British debacles. His new plan rules out a complete ban on gas boilers, and talks about protecting vulnerable people in rural areas, and even how the French love their cars.