Don’t demonise diesel power warns Merkel

ANGELA Merkel warned yesterday that the UK’s actions could be seen as ‘demonising diesel’.

Reacting to news Britain will ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2040, a spokesman for the German Chancellor said: ‘The Chancellor has often warned against demonising diesel motors – diesel motors emit less CO2 and are therefore more environmentally-friendly.’

But Oliver Wittke, a transport expert in Mrs Merkel’s CDU party, told Deutschlandfunk radio Germany it was unacceptable to let Britain lead the way while Germany, the home of major carmakers such as Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, was lagging behind.

He added: ‘We need to start getting rid of combustion technology in the short-term and reach an EU-wide binding agreement on this.’