Parties tackle air quality
Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems pledge to clean up air pollution
The Conservative party has outlined its plans to remove combustion-engined cars from the road from 2050. In its manifesto, published in the run-up to the UK general election, Theresa May’s party pledged to make “almost every car and van… zero-emission by 2050”.
When contacted by Autocar, the party added that this included making a zeroemission drivetrain mandatory for cars to pass their MOT test, in effect banning petrol and diesel vehicles. It linked the plans to the fight against air pollution in Britain.
The Liberal Democrat party has taken an even harder stance against combustion-engined cars, outlining plans in its manifesto to enforce a ban on the sale of diesel cars from 2025. The party wants to launch a Green Transport Act and introduce a diesel scrappage scheme that would take older diesel-engined models off the road.
Conversely, the Labour party has refrained from planning any ban on combustion-engined vehicles, but its manifesto outlines plans to fund new green initiatives such as a Clean Air Act. It notes the impact of buses and taxis on transport pollution and pledges to “retrofit thousands of diesel buses in areas with the most severe air quality problems to Euro 6 standards”.
The Liberal Democrats have gone further and revealed that their diesel ban would be accompanied by adjusted car taxation, to give more breaks to drivers of low and zeroemission vehicles while penalising the higher polluters.
The Lib Dems would back this with extended Ultra-low Emission Zones (ULEZS) in 10 more towns and cities. Diesel taxis and buses in urban areas would be affected as well, with the Lib Dems forcing them to switch to ultra-low-emission or zero-emission drivetrains by 2022. To help boost supply, the party wants to increase support for the manufacturing of lowemission and electric vehicles.