Labour has urged the government to bring forward its proposed ban on new non-electric cars and vans to 2030.
Grant Shapps, secretary of state for transport, announced earlier this year that the government was consulting on accelerating the current 2040 phase-out of new diesel, petrol and hybrid car and van sales to 2035 or earlier.
As ministers weigh up which date to pick, three Labour shadow ministers have written jointly to Shapps, calling on him to bring forward the date to the end of this decade.
Labour backed a 2030 cut-off for non-electric vehicles in its general election manifesto last year but the date has since been adopted by the One Nation group of Conservative MPs.
In addition, the Committee on Climate Change recommended earlier this year that the ban must be brought forward to “2032 at the latest”.
In the letter, shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead and his counterparts in the climate change and transport briefs, Matthew Pennycook and Kerry McCarthy, write that there is “widespread consensus that new ICE vehicles need to be phased out as a matter of some urgency and replaced with zero-exhaust emissions alternatives”.
Unless it takes this “ambitious” action, the letter warns that the government risks further damage to both the domestic car industry and the UK’s credibility on the global stage as hosts of the delayed COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next year.
“It’s time for ministers to seize this opportunity as part of a world-leading green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, creating good jobs across the country, and generating real momentum for next year’s COP26 climate summit.
“The Labour Party firmly believes that 2030 is both an ambitious and an achievable phase-out date for new ICE vehicles.”
Alongside the 2030 ban, the shadow ministers call for a “clear roadmap” to establishing charging infrastructure up and down the country, including ensuring charging access for those without off-street parking and a smarter electricity grid that can meet the increased demand the new vehicles will create.
Pennycook said: “2030 is an ambitious but achievable date by which to phase out the sale of new petrol, diesel, and hybrid vehicles, one that would give a new lease of life to the UK car industry, whilst combatting climate breakdown and cleaning up the air that dangerously pollutes so many of our towns and cities.
“But as well as accelerating the phase out, the government must also set out a credible plan to get there – one that backs the low-carbon jobs and industries of the future and ensures that workers and communities are properly supported in the transition to a fairer and cleaner economy.”