ACTION

by ministers to deliberately incentivise millions of motorists to buy diesel cars — and then later penalise them for doing so — could be ‘unlawful’ and leave the Government open to a major legal challenge, lawyers have warned.

Damon Parker, partner at law firm Harcus Sinclair, which launched the legal class action challenge against Volkswagen over the ‘dieselgate’ emissions scandal, told consumer magazine Auto Express: ‘ There is evidence that previous governments promoted diesel car sales on a knowingly false basis.

‘On the basis of the evidence, the Government has a case to answer.

‘The tactic of forcing diesel owners to part with their vehicles through financial penalties is not only unfairly prejudicial, but may go so far as to be unlawful and subject to challenge.’