It was a big week in UK politics last week. In case you missed it, the incumbent Conservative government \u2013 which was in power for 14 years \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
In the run up to election day, Labour claimed to be \u201ctruly on the side of drivers\u201d. (Whatever that means.) Several key promises in its manifesto were specifically directed at UK motorists \u2013 so unless you\u2019re planning to scrap your car<\/strong><\/a> immediately, there\u2019s a good chance that you\u2019ll be directly or indirectly affected by at least some of them. So let\u2019s take a look at some of their more prominent pledges in more detail, shall we?<\/p>\n 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\u2019ve been following this story over the past few years, you\u2019ll already know that there has been a lot of back and forth on this date.<\/p>\n It\u2019s gone from its original target of 2040 down to 2035<\/strong><\/a>, and then brought forward to 2030. Then in September of last year, the then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushed it to 2035. Now, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n This move is likely to be welcomed by environmental campaigners, as well as people across both sides of the political divide; it\u2019s notable that Sunak\u2019s delay of the ban in 2023 caused controversy even within the Conservative party. Chris Skidmore, the former chairman of the UK government\u2019s net zero review, called it “the greatest mistake of Rishi Sunak\u2019s premiership,\u201d and the industry also expressed uncertainty. Mike Hawes, head of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said, \u201cthe view of the industry is that we are on track for ending fossil fuel vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n However, resetting the date to 2030 hasn\u2019t been without resistance either. Steve Rodell, a senior executive at Christie, stated that it\u2019s \u201csimply unachievable\u201d 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.<\/p>\n In the party\u2019s own words, Labour plans to \u201csupport the transition to electric vehicles by accelerating the rollout of charge points\u201d. 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\u2019s energy grid, allowing businesses to install their own charging infrastructure for their fleets more quickly.<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve previously covered ourselves<\/strong><\/a> 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 in fact, about half of consumers<\/strong><\/a> believe that electric vehicle batteries performs three times worse than they actually do.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s new Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, has said that there\u2019s been a \u00a3219 increase in the average premium over the past two years, and called for more transparency from the industry regarding the cause of these rises.<\/p>\n \u201cCar insurance is not a luxury but a legal requirement,\u201d she pointed out, \u201cand it is completely unaffordable for millions of drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n While there are no specific policy details yet, this initiative is likely to be welcomed by most drivers \u2013 after all, it\u2019s a non-partisan issue if ever there was one.<\/p>\n Pothole damage cost drivers almost \u00a3500 million last year, with the average repair costing \u00a3250. To address this, Labour plans to defer the new A27 bypass in southern England, saving \u00a3320 million, which will be redirected to repairs across the country.<\/p>\n However, not everyone is convinced. Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, has said: \u201cThe previous Government promised \u00a38.3bn of reallocated HS2 funding to resurface 5,000 miles of local roads. With no mention of reinstating HS2, it\u2019s not apparent whether Labour would honour this spending commitment to tackle the nation\u2019s pothole problem. If that proportion of budget \u2013 which would only resurface 3% of all council-run roads in England \u2013 is no longer dedicated to road maintenance, the proposed \u00a3320m from the A27 bypass would not even be a drop in the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2026 we\u2019ll just have to wait and see!<\/p>\n One thing is certain though \u2013 with more than 40 years of experience behind us, here at Scrap Car Network, we\u2019re the very best people to get you the best price on your scrap car. All you need to do is\u00a0enter a few details into our homepage<\/strong><\/a>, and we\u2019ll provide you with an instant online quote! Curious to see how much your car is worth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a big week in UK politics last week. In case you missed it, the incumbent Conservative government \u2013 which was in power for 14 years \u2013 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":8071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\nReinstate the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales<\/h2>\n
Accelerate EV charge point installation and streamline planning approval<\/h2>\n
Tackle the soaring cost of car insurance<\/h2>\n
Fix a million potholes\u2026 every year<\/h2>\n