What promises is the incoming government making to drivers?
11th Jul, 2024
It was a big week in UK politics last week. In case you missed it, the incumbent Conservative government – which was in power for 14 years – suffered a major defeat to Labour in the general election, officially making Labour the new party of government. Under Kier Starmer, the new government has already wasted no time in kicking off some of its key plans, as outlined in its manifesto.
In the run up to election day, Labour claimed to be “truly on the side of drivers”. (Whatever that means.) Several key promises in its manifesto were specifically directed at UK motorists – so unless you’re planning to scrap your car immediately, there’s a good chance that you’ll be directly or indirectly affected by at least some of them. So let’s take a look at some of their more prominent pledges in more detail, shall we?
Reinstate the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales
The Labour government has categorically stated that it will give certainty to manufacturers by restoring the phase-out date of 2030 for new cars with internal combustion engines. If you’ve been following this story over the past few years, you’ll already know that there has been a lot of back and forth on this date.
It’s gone from its original target of 2040 down to 2035, and then brought forward to 2030. Then in September of last year, the then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushed it to 2035. Now, it’s worth noting that this target was in line with the EU target, but it was not without its critics. Labour now plans to reinstate the 2030 deadline, and keep it there.
This move is likely to be welcomed by environmental campaigners, as well as people across both sides of the political divide; it’s notable that Sunak’s delay of the ban in 2023 caused controversy even within the Conservative party. Chris Skidmore, the former chairman of the UK government’s net zero review, called it “the greatest mistake of Rishi Sunak’s premiership,” and the industry also expressed uncertainty. Mike Hawes, head of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said, “the view of the industry is that we are on track for ending fossil fuel vehicles.”
However, resetting the date to 2030 hasn’t been without resistance either. Steve Rodell, a senior executive at Christie, stated that it’s “simply unachievable” and noted that Vauxhall publicly declared the 2035 ban impossible to meet. It remains to be seen how this will play out. While this change might not significantly impact most consumers, since 90% buy used rather than new cars, the focus will inevitably shift to alternatives like electric vehicles. And that brings us neatly on to the next point in the agenda.
Accelerate EV charge point installation and streamline planning approval
In the party’s own words, Labour plans to “support the transition to electric vehicles by accelerating the rollout of charge points”. One proposed method to help achieve this is to remove planning permission requirements for installing these points. Another secondary goal is to expand the capabilities of the UK’s energy grid, allowing businesses to install their own charging infrastructure for their fleets more quickly.
As we’ve previously covered ourselves here at Scrap Car Network, the lack of charge points is one of the biggest barriers to the continued rollout of EVs, along with the cost, so on the surface at least, it’s promising that this is an area of focus for Labour. They also plan to use the National Wealth Fund to part-finance new gigafactories, boosting domestic battery production. Although concerns about electric battery life persist among consumers, research shows that these concerns are often overestimated – in fact, about half of consumers believe that electric vehicle batteries performs three times worse than they actually do.
To address this, Labour proposes a mandatory Electric Vehicle Confident labelling system for EVs, indicating their environmental impact, real-world battery range, and expected battery lifespan.
Tackle the soaring cost of car insurance
Rising living costs have been hitting people from various angles in the last few years, from household bills to council tax and rising food and fuel prices. One significant area of concern is the rising cost of car insurance. Labour’s new Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, has said that there’s been a £219 increase in the average premium over the past two years, and called for more transparency from the industry regarding the cause of these rises.
“Car insurance is not a luxury but a legal requirement,” she pointed out, “and it is completely unaffordable for millions of drivers.”
While there are no specific policy details yet, this initiative is likely to be welcomed by most drivers – after all, it’s a non-partisan issue if ever there was one.
Fix a million potholes… every year
Pothole damage cost drivers almost £500 million last year, with the average repair costing £250. To address this, Labour plans to defer the new A27 bypass in southern England, saving £320 million, which will be redirected to repairs across the country.
However, not everyone is convinced. Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, has said: “The previous Government promised £8.3bn of reallocated HS2 funding to resurface 5,000 miles of local roads. With no mention of reinstating HS2, it’s not apparent whether Labour would honour this spending commitment to tackle the nation’s pothole problem. If that proportion of budget – which would only resurface 3% of all council-run roads in England – is no longer dedicated to road maintenance, the proposed £320m from the A27 bypass would not even be a drop in the ocean.”
Promises and manifestos are easy, but actually delivering on them is challenging. For a significant while now, Labour was widely expected to form the next government, so they have known they would be under intense pressure to deliver. As for whether they will… we’ll just have to wait and see!
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