UK GOVERNMENT TO OFFER VOTE ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE SALES POLICY

 Under plans to reduce new petrol and diesel vehicle sales to zero by 2030 (a so-called “ZEV mandate”), British car makers would from 2024 have to ensure that at least 22 per cent of all their new cars, and 10 per cent of their vans, are electric-powered.

Those manufacturers who fail to hit the target face fines of up to £15,000 per car if they miss the production target and Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has lobbied for more flexibility on the timetable after complaints from some car firms.

Normally, the statutory instrument used to enact such measures would be passed through Parliament using a “negative” procedure, with little chance for a vote.

But the DfT is planning to use a rare “affirmative” procedure, which would need to be passed by a vote in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The vote would allow rebels to join forces to vote against the plans.

The procedure may be used as a way to allow backbenchers to register a protest, but if the rebellion grows then ministers may pull the whole vote rather than have to rely on Labour votes to get it through.

The 2024 start date for the new vehicles mandate will be followed by a ramping up of production targets to 2030, when no new petrol or diesel cars will allowed to be sold.

So we see, yet again, that the government is getting nervous about the drastic measures which they know would have to be taken to reach the wretched net zero by 2050 target. Most of the public are still blissfully unaware of the costly mayhem that is gradually approaching