Westminster’s ICE folly

There was a debate in parliament last month about EVS and the new transport bill that is being prepared. The trade minister made an astonishing statement that the government is considering the removal of all ICE vehicles and petrol and diesel filling stations from our roads by 2035 – just 14 years time. And the shadow minister said “we’re on the same page”. Barking.

It was clear ministers don’t have the first clue about the cost of this: charging infrastructure, extra electricity, the cost of replacing about 30 million cars and battery recycling. Politicians are gripped by the excitement of the UK being the most advanced country in the world with net-zero targets and have no idea of the risks (BEV isn’t a mature technology and could be overtaken) or the threat to our vehicle and petrochemical industries.

We urgently need the cost for all of this to be calculated, followed by a debate about whether we want to spend taxpayers’ money in this way – instead of on hospitals, schools and social care, for example. (The new social care report is looking for an additional £60 billion of funding to fix a system that “we should be ashamed of”.)

The current battery of tax rebates and subsidies for EVS is astonishing and distorting the market to a huge extent. EVS incur no road tax, no London congestion charge, no resident parking charge and no fuel tax (when I fill my car, the bill includes £86 tax); plus 50% of their lease cost is paid for by the government (the salary sacrifice scheme) and the benefitin-kind tax rate for EVS is 1%, compared with up to 37% for ICE cars.

Where is the common-sense lobby? Donald Cameron London