Labour

Government decision to abandon support for vehicle recharging network will undermine Plug-In Vehicle grants - Maria Eagle

Maria Eagle MP, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the announcement of an extension to the Plug-In Car Grant and extension to vans, said:

"It’s right that the scheme that Labour introduced to cut the costs of ultra-low emission cars is to be continued and extended to vans. However, as well as a financial incentive to make the switch to a greener car, motorists also need confidence that they will have easy access to recharging points.

"The Government’s decision to abandon support for a national recharging network has been a disaster for the switch to low carbon vehicles and is a betrayal of the pledge made in the Tory election manifesto, showing once again that David Cameron has broken his promise to lead the 'greenest government ever'. The Liberal Democrats complete failure to prevent this shift in policy, despite it being a clear commitment in the Coalition Agreement, makes their claim to the low carbon agenda even more laughable.

"This decision risks undermining a crucial industry of the future at a time when Britain should be leading the world in the development of green technologies and creating much needed high value jobs. Instead, by making the wrong choices on how best to cut spending on transport and failing to back growth, they are making it harder to reduce the deficit in the long term.

"The Committee on Climate Change is clear that if the UK is to remain on course to hit ambitious carbon-reduction targets we need to have reached 1.7 million electric vehicles by 2020 and a public charging infrastructure is needed to give confidence to drivers. It’s time the Government showed the leadership that the scale of this challenge demands."