The Government’s ban on petrol and diesel cars is just a giant leap in the dark
Fog up ahead
THE wheels are already coming off the Government’s electric car revolution.
The lack of joined-up thinking is depressing.
Only 1.6 per cent of new motors sold in the UK are electric. Which is not surprising when they are at least £10,000 more than the petrol equivalent and most have woeful mileage ranges.
Yet the Government, desperate to advertise its green credentials, blithely announces a ban on new petrol, diesel and even hybrid cars in just 15 years.
But it’s not a concrete, costed plan . . . just a giant leap in the dark.
How does it intend to totally re-equip Britain for roadside charging — or fund it while its multi-billion pound fuel duty income withers away to nothing?
How will people afford these cars unless prices plummet, which experts say is unlikely in the foreseeable future? And why is the Government poised to axe the subsidies that help us to buy?
We don’t in principle think taxpayers should fund anyone’s new motor. But why remove buyers’ sole financial incentive now, when the industry badly needs a jump-start?
The Government is hopping on a bandwagon without considering the consequences, like Labour 20 years ago when it urged everyone to buy diesels.
Meanwhile councils are already brainlessly instigating city centre bans or fines on all but the tiny number of zero-emission vehicles currently on the road.
Who can blame motorists for being confused and angry? Many will happily drive more eco-friendly cars once they are viable and affordable.
But this is all stick and no carrot.
Forget flags
BRITAIN should not be proudly flying our flag for Prince Andrew’s birthday. It is a grotesque gesture in the circumstances.
Maybe his long, close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein — a jailed paedophile, pimp and sex trafficker of under-age girls — was entirely innocent.
But he has still been sacked from Royal duties and accused of ignoring FBI demands to question him.
Epstein’s victims are adamant Andrew must return to the US.
What an insult to them if Town Halls raise the Union Jack to honour him instead.
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Help them, PM
WHEN it comes to helping the disabled, Boris Johnson can put his money where his mouth is right now.
We are delighted to see the PM ask every Cabinet minister to find ways their department can contribute to his new National Disability Strategy.
But there’s a £434million black hole in funding for social care for families with disabled kids which Sajid Javid’s Budget on March 11 should fill. Our Give It Back campaign has highlighted it.
Turn warm words into action, PM.
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