SDLP has described Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's new approach to achieving net-zero emissions as a "cynical stunt".

Rishi Sunak made changes to the government's climate pledges by pushing back the UK's deadline for selling new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of the gas boiler.

The party's leader, Colum Eastwood, said the Prime Minister's announcement is "cynical opportunism dressed up as difficult decision making".

In a statement, Mr Eastwood said: "While other advanced economies are meeting on the fringes of the UN General Assembly to discuss how the international community can accelerate the move to net-zero, it is astounding that Britain is pulling the brakes on urgent action to challenge the greatest threat that our planet faces.

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"That the Prime Minister would make an announcement of this nature while Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake on these islands, is experiencing an ecological crisis is a damning indictment of his leadership and his government.

"The independent Climate Change Committee said earlier this year that Britain had lost its global leadership position on climate change. Industry leaders have vocally protested the incoherence, inconsistency and reckless nature of what Rishi Sunk has announced today. This weak, directionless approach cannot continue. A Labour government is badly needed."

Recently, Mr Eastwood sponsored Private Members legislation in the House of Commons which would have levied a green jobs tax on multinational companies.