Lord Harper
Main Page: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)(1 day, 7 hours ago)
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Baroness Dacres of Lewisham (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for his good wishes; I am feeling very lucky today. I also thank him for his years of dedicated service to and championing of the automotive industry. He is right that now is a critical time for the industry. That is why the Government are conducting a review of the ZEV mandate, which we aim to publish this year. We are working with industry to protect jobs and accelerate reindustrialisation. The future of our automotive sector is zero emissions, and the Government are committed to ensuring that those jobs come to the UK. The department has discussed mild hybrid vehicles in detail with manufacturers. Their future role will be part of the outcome of the review.
Lord Harper (Con)
My Lords, I am the Minister who set the ZEV targets in the first place. The noble Baroness will remember that under Rishi Sunak we moved the 2030 phase-out date for petrol and diesel cars to 2035. We thought that struck a better balance between our emission targets and—as the noble Lord, Lord Woodley, opposite said—protecting the automotive sector. This Government returned it to 2030. Is the Minister reflecting on whether that was the right decision? Also, the Government are rumoured to be adjusting the trajectory of how we get there. If they change the trajectory but not the end date, perhaps they are not being as honest with the public as they ought to be.
Baroness Dacres of Lewisham (Lab)
As I have mentioned, the Government are committed to reindustrialisation and the future is zero emissions. I am pleased to hear what the noble Lord mentioned on the moving of those targets under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The review, which concluded a few weeks ago and will be published by the end of the year, is not hiding anything. That is why we are involving different parts of the automotive sector, including trade unions and other organisations and groups. With their help and support, and taking their views on board, we want to find out exactly what needs to be done to move in the right direction so that we get to those targets together.