Don't listen to the Climate Change Committee on car bans, ministers are warned

London, 3 July - Net Zero Watch has warned ministers that the Climate Change Committee's call for a ban of hybrid cars poses an existential threat to Britain's car industry.

In its latest report the Climate Change Committee urged the government to ban the sale of hybrid cars in 2030, five years earlier than planned.

Industry insiders and MPs have warned that the Committee's radical proposal risks the closure of car plants and the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs. It would also deprive millions of ordinary Brits the buy an affordable car. 

The chair of the parliamentary Net Zero Scrutiny Group Craig Mackinlay MP warned: “The UK’s uniquely stupid net zero policies is likely to lead to the loss of our proud car industry by the end of the decade.”

Net Zero Watch has welcomed the rejection of the proposal by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and has renewed its call for Rishi Sunak to follow the EU's decision to cancel the planned sales ban of conventional cars altogether.

Now that the European ban of the sale of combustion engine cars has been abandoned, the government needs to follow suit if it wants to avoid destroying large swathes of the British car industry.

For millions of Britons electric vehicles will not be a viable solution as they are much more expensive than cars with combustion engines. And electric cars will probably still be more expensive than conventional cars in seven years.