MP, Shadow Transport
Secretary, said:
Conservatives, business and the Unions are clear - the ZEV
mandate and punishing energy costs are crippling the British
automotive industry. But Labour are not listening.
Labour Ministers refuse to review a mandate that fines
manufacturers for failing to sell cars British families do not
want to buy, all while loading green levies onto the highest
industrial electricity prices in the developed world and sending
taxpayers money to foreign manufactures to produce electric cars
abroad. Every pound added to a factory's energy and tax bill is a
pound that could have been used to keep British workers in
high-valued jobs.
The next Conservative government will scrap the ZEV mandate and
deliver our Cheap Power Plan to bring industrial energy costs
down. Labour would sooner sacrifice British jobs than admit their
green dogma has failed.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
-
The Conservatives will reverse the ban on petrol and
diesel vehicles so families can choose which car is best for
them. The Conservatives will scrap the 2030 ban on
petrol and diesel vehicles, the 2035 ban on hybrid vehicles and
the ZEV mandates (The Daily Telegraph, 13 December
2025, link).
-
The previous Conservative Government took the pragmatic
decision to delay the ban on new diesel and petrol cars from
2030 to 2035.The previous Prime Minister, , took the pragmatic decision
to delay the ban on new diesel and petrol cars from 2030 to
2035, putting the UK in line with some other global
economies such as France, Germany, Sweden and Canada. This
allowed time for consumers to make the choice to switch to
electric, and to level up our charging infrastructure
(Department for Transport, News Story, 3 January 2024,
link). Since
then, however, there has been increasing recognition that
consumer demand for electric vehicles has not developed at the
pace expected and that transition timelines may require greater
flexibility.
-
Following a consultation, Labour announced that from
2030 all new cars must be hybridised in some manner and by
2035, all new cars and vans must be zero-emission.
This response finalises that intention, confirming that from
2030 all new cars will need to be hybridised in some manner or
be zero emission. From 2035, all new cars and vans will be zero
emission, and everything we do must now support manufacturers
in reaching that end point' (DfT, Consultation
Outcome, 7 April 2025, link).
-
This approach is consistent with the Conservative
manifesto commitment not to introduce nationwide road pricing
over the next Parliament. Scrapping the ZEV mandate
and slowing the phase-out of internal combustion engine (ICE)
vehicles would deliver two clear strategic benefits. First, it
would sustain fuel duty revenues for longer, providing
additional fiscal headroom and easing the short-term pressure
to replace these receipts with new motoring taxes. Second, it
would give the UK time to observe and assess the implementation
of pay-per-mile and road pricing systems in other countries,
strengthening future policy design and reducing the risk of
significant public backlash.
