British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reinstated the 2030 ban on the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars, after the previous government relaxed it to 2035.

This follows a government review of the current Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The ZEV mandate is a policy tool requiring car manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of electric vehicles yearly to avoid fines. Initially, this was a yearly target, with the percentage of ZEVs required to sell increasing until 100 per cent is reached in 2035. However, this could be sped up with reinstating the 2030 ban.

With the utmost thought towards the motor industry, the Prime Minister has generously allowed the sale of full hybrid cars until 2035, in what the Department for Transport claims will provide “certainty, stability and support as the Prime Minister sets out plans to back industry in the face of global economic headwinds”. I wonder what they could possibly be referring to.

So why is this an issue? Surely, there should be a desire to reduce carbon emissions and transition to a more sustainable system. The answer is that we should, but only if it is realistic to do so.