A zero-sum game - Tories fear Sunak's policy blitz will fail

The prime minister has announced a plethora of new initiatives. But is it a coherent strategy or evidence of a government in panic?

- Toby Helm and Michael Savage

As world leaders gathered at the UN climate summit in New York, a topic sparking lively discussion on the margins was Rishi Sunak's "no-show". "There were a lot of people asking why he hadn't come," said one British source who attended. "Most other world leaders were there."

The UK was, however, briefly represented at the New York event last week by Prince William, who was in town to announce the winners of the Earthshot prize, his environmental charity.

While the prince was on stage with the likes of Bill Gates and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, discussing the importance of combatting global warming, diplomats and officials were distracted by a news alert on their phones. The BBC had been leaked details of how Britain's prime minister was about to U-turn on several key climate change commitments.

The reaction among environmentalists, government officials and others at the UN was, inevitably, scornful. "Which are you?" asked one nonUK diplomat to a British friend, "the prince promoting Earthshot, or your PM thumbing his nose at us?" 

Slowly it was becoming clearer why Sunak had decided to stay away. There were things to do at home.

It is less than two years since the UK hosted the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, which committed member states to ratchet up policies to combat global heating. These days in Downing Street, more immediate political concerns predominate.

The Tories are behind in the opinion polls, and after 11 months of Sunak's mission to steady the ship following the turbulence of Boris Johnson's and Liz Truss's time at No 10, there is frustration, if not desperation.