'Have some common sense!' Kemi Badenoch demands Labour scrap petrol and diesel ban as she vows to 'reverse' policy

Mrs Badenoch explained: "They've [manufacturers] been telling me for a long time, even when I was in government, that it wasn't going to work, that it was very hard for them to scale up that level of production, that there wasn't enough demand in the market.

"What I'm saying is, let's have some common sense. I've always been sceptical that this net zero plan would work. It is not working. The problem we have is that Labour is now doubling down."

She added: "I managed to get the deadline pushed to 2035, they brought it forward. If we want to have a good transition, if we want to tackle climate change, we have to do it in a common sense way, not just stick to a plan that isn't working.

"People can't afford the cars. The Government is taxing people to subsidise the purchase of the cars. The only entity that is profiting from this is China."

Recalling her opposition to the ban on the day the announcement was made, the Tory leader stated: "If you look at the day that that announcement to net zero by 2050 was made, I was speaking, saying, how is this going to be achievable and affordable?

"When I was in Government, I was the one pushing back. Things would have been a lot worse if I wasn't there."

She told the People's Channel: "Now I'm in charge. We have done the work, we've done the research, it is not working. It is time to drop it. This is also because we can see Labour doubling, tripling down on this. It is not common sense."

Doubling down on her pledge to reverse the ban, Mrs Badenoch made clear that her policy changes are ones that "make sense".

She explained: "What I'm asking people is to look at me, look at how consistent I've been. I'm not turning, I'm changing our party policy to something that makes sense. And a lot of people are supporting me, both in industry and in politics and even in the media, because they know that this is the right thing.

"Even the EU is looking at pushing it back further or maybe even dropping it. We're supposed to be competing, we left the EU so that we could be competing and doing better, not following them. It's time for us to start taking the lead and do what is right in the national interest."

Demanding the Labour Government "scraps" their policy and not "force it on people", Mrs Badenoch said: "Specifically the ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) mandate, we have scrapped it. Net zero, if people want to do it, that's fine, but Government mandating it and forcing people, that's what we need to scrap.

"We can do better for the environment, we can tackle climate change, but we need to use sensible ways of doing it. Let the market decide."

She added: "Let's invest in technology and innovation, but not what we're doing right now, which is putting legislation forcing people to behave in a way which we're not actually able to sustain, like with heat pumps, where we're forcing heat pumps when we're actually not able to install them properly.

“We cannot pursue net zero by bankrupting our country, we're not going to be a global leader, no one will follow us."

Stressing the work that has already been done by Western nations to tackle climate change and help achieve net zero, Mrs Badenoch said we now need to "start thinking about the economy".

She said: "The UK has already done more than any Western economy in terms of delivering on climate change.

"We've cut our emissions very low, but we need to start thinking about our economy. We are getting poorer, so the Conservative Party is taking the common sense approach, which I have always pushed for many years."

She stated: "Let's tackle the environment, but do it in a way that makes sense, not by these legislative mandates that don't work and are actually chasing car manufacturing out of our country and de-industrialising the UK."

Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden also backed the move, telling GB News Breakfast: "Our new policy from the Conservatives is that we will scrap these targets, both a 2030 target and the 2035 target.

"Because the choice of what sort of vehicle you want should be yours. It's horses for courses, some people want electric cars, and we produce some fantastic ones, but some people want to stick with a hybrid or a diesel or a petrol, and it should be their choice."

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