𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham has been urged to listen to the voices of manufacturers as a consultation on banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars officially closed. Ministers are considering watering down the ban, after manufacturers warned it was putting jobs at risk. The Department for Transport will now consider responses from motorists, car makers and other businesses.

Conservative Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden called for the policy to be scrapped entirely. He said: “Britain makes great hybrid, petrol, diesel and electric cars. It should be up to consumers, not the state, what they are able to buy. The EU and US have both scrapped their plans to ban diesel and electric cars and vans.”

Mr Holden added: “So rather than tinkering at the edges, and spending billions of taxpayers’ money funding foreign companies to pay foreign workers to make electric cars, the Labour Government should adopt the Conservatives’ drive-train neutral approach and let families and small businesses choose for themselves what vehicle is right for them and, in the process, save taxpayers billions as well as the British automotive sector.”

Mr Burnham has so far refused to back down over a planned ban on the sale of new fully petrol or diesel cars from 2030, and new hybrid vehicles from 2035. However, the Government consultation looked at whether to relax tough rules designed to reduce sales of petrol and hybrid cars before those dates.

Under the Government’s Zero Emission Mandate (ZEV), vehicle manufacturers in the UK must already ensure 33% of new cars are electric, and face fines if they fail to comply. This is set to rise steadily to 80% by 2030.

Car makers have warned that drivers are reluctant to buy electric vehicles, and the industry spends £5billion every year providing discounts. The automotive sector, which employs almost 800,000 people, including 156,000 directly in manufacturing, has said this is unsustainable, and jobs are at risk. Firms include Jaguar Land Rover, with plants in the West Midlands and Merseyside, and Nissan, a major employer in the North-east.

Possible changes to be considered by the Government include reducing the target to 50% of new cars being fully electric by 2030. This would allow more hybrid vehicles to be sold, although the total ban on hybrids after 2035 would remain.

Any attempt to water down the measure would be opposed by some environmental campaigners and businesses involved in providing electric chargepoint infrastructure.

Union leaders last month said the ban was partly to blame for Jaguar Land Rover’s announcement that it was axing 4,000 roles. Sharon Graham, general secretary of trade union Unite, said: “Years of under-investment, unsustainable ZEV mandates and high industrial energy costs are crippling the industry. There must be further action.”

Transport minister Simon Lightwood said: “No policy decisions have been made yet regarding the trajectories of the ZEV Mandate. We are seeking views on whether a revised approach to the existing mandate trajectories is warranted. The Government remains committed to the 2030 and 2035 phase-out dates, and they are not subject to change.”