Kemi Badenoch expresses concern over job loss due to car ban

Kemi Badenoch is pushing for Cabinet colleagues to relax net zero rules for electric vehicles. Credit: Getty Images Europe/Leon Neal

Kemi Badenoch, business secretary, urges Cabinet colleagues to relax zero-cleanliness rules for electric vehicles coming into force in January.

Automakers warn that they will not be able to meet the requirement that 22% of the new cars they sell in 2024 must be all-electric zero-emission models.

The manufacturer will be fined £15,000 for each polluting car sold over the limit, unless it can somehow buy additional allowances from another company. .

Ms Badenoch is believed to be concerned about a requirement known as the Zero Emission Vehicle (Zev) mandate.

Ms Badenoch's spokesperson said: «If the big car companies , which employs thousands of people, says there is a problem, then her job is to look for ways to alleviate this problem.

Zero net profit has become a central concern for both Conservatives and Labor, and Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure to delay a 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales.

Last week, The Telegraph reported, that Honda and Toyota have publicly called for a relaxation of the rules due to fears that they will be violated if they are implemented as planned.

Rep Ms Badenoch was also quoted as saying: the only manufacturers who expressed concern ”, and “Kemi expressed her concerns to colleagues in the cabinet.”

The accuracy of the remarks first published on the Politico website was not disputed by the Department of Business. .

The Telegraph understands that government ministers are looking for new «flexibilities» to help with the crisis, but are committed to a quota.

Despite the fact that the rules come into force in just five months, the Department of Transportation has still not revealed its full approach on how it will oversee the scheme.

Zev's mandate

The Zev mandate is part of a broader set of rules to phase out petrol and natural gas vehicles and help meet the government's legitimate goal of a carbon neutral UK by 2050.

The UK ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is due in 2030, five years earlier than in the European Union. Mr Sunak confirmed the date despite pressure from his own party: more than 40 Conservative MPs and colleagues last week called on the prime minister to push back the deadline.

New hybrid cars that work part fuel and part electric, may be sold until 2035, although the exact way they will be phased out between these dates remains to be determined.

Only new models are not allowed to be sold after these dates. Used petrol and diesel vehicles can still be sold.

Zev's mandate is to set a percentage for each year that the proportion of new car sales in the UK must come from zero emission models.

The target is to start at 22% in 2024 and then increase up to 80% in 2030. A source close to political discussions insists these numbers will not change.

But there is open debate among officials and ministers about various proposals to ease the impact of the rules.

Many of them involve a complex system of emission quotas. Others are looking at the rate at which demand levels rise between 2024 and 2030.

Labor's blackouts

In a separate instance, Grant Shapps, Energy Secretary, warned that power outages could come as a result of Labor's pledge not to approve new licenses for exploration drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.

Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Shapps said: «Their insane plan to ban British oil and gas, which will hit our economy and security, or their impossible plans to decarbonize the electricity system by 2030, which could literally plunge the UK into darkness, and many into poverty – their approach to zero churn is too extreme, too risky and too fast for households and businesses.”

The Labor Party has dismissed such attacks on its policies in the past, noting that existing oil and gas wells will still be able to continue producing until 2050.

Operational data confirmed they will not cancel the 100 new oil and gas licenses the government announced last year and re-announced this week if they win office in 2024.

Sir Keir Starmer only promises not to issue new licenses for oil and gas exploration, not to revoke Tory licenses.

Mr Shapps will meet with executives 20 energy firms on Wednesday as the Conservative government continues to cover energy policy this week.