The UK is in danger of losing out by creating a hostile environment for petrol and diesel vehicles which remain popular with the public and which Britain has been good at producing, explains Sir John Redwood.
The UK and EU governments have launched an assault on domestic car manufacture. There need to be urgent changes to save what we have got.
The tax on producing too many petrol and diesel cars – or on producing too few electric ones – must be removed immediately. It is a great way to get people to close car plants here.
The subsidies for electric car and charger roll out should be removed. There needs to be further improvement in the technologies and products before urging people to own these vehicles.
It may well be that a cheaper and better way of going to net zero for autos is to work with the aviation industry on carbon free synthetic fuels, or with the haulage and heavy plant people who are favouring hydrogen. Until we are much further advanced with these possibilities it is premature to force people into expensive and unpopular battery cars.
It is strange that green campaigners split transport and recommend syn fuel for planes, hydrogen for trucks and batteries for cars. There could be synergies and cost savings if a common set of answers was worked on to the issue of energy for propulsion. Instead governments rush to adopt answers that do not work well and are unpopular with those who need to buy them.
The UK is in danger of losing out badly in auto manufacture by creating such a hostile environment for petrol and diesel vehicles which remain popular and we have been good at.
The Rt Hon John Redwood was the Conservative MP for Wokingham, and had been an MP continuously since 11 June 1987 until 4 July 2024.
Read John Redwood’s Diary by clicking here.
Photo credit: SMMT.
“There need to be urgent changes to save what we have got.”
Surely you mean what we have not got because it is owned by Americans, Chinese, French , and Indians? There are no longer any vehicle manufacturers of any real importance still owned by the English thanks to the policies of the Thatcher administration of which John Redwood was a member.
Without Thatcher you wouldn’t have any car manufacturers period