DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Rethink this rush to ban petrol vehicles
The desire to tackle and leave a cleaner, greener planet for our children and grandchildren is shared by almost everybody. That has been illustrated by the Mail's successful and popular campaigns to end the scourge of plastic pollution and clean up the litter befouling our countryside. But we have also warned that Net Zero policies which make people poorer, their lives harder and less free, will understandably be met with resistance. So our poll should make alarming reading for and politicians fixated on forcing voters into buying supposedly eco-friendly electric cars they cannot afford. It is not surprising there is woefully little support for banning sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Only one in four think this deadline plucked from thin air without consultation is a good idea. Not only are electric vehicles frighteningly expensive, but soaring power prices mean a full recharge can now cost significantly more than a tank of petrol. And that, of course, is if you're lucky enough to find a charging point. With the current network lamentably inadequate, many motorists will plainly not want to gamble on switching to battery-run cars with tiny mileage ranges. Experts also calculate that replacing traditional fossil fuel vehicles will jeopardise jobs and harm Britain's car industry. It's no wonder nearly half of voters worry that the looming ban will damage the economy. And will the environmental gain be worth the economic pain? It's not entirely clear. Manufacturing an electric car can create substantially more emissions than producing a petrol model, as their batteries require large quantities of rare metals. When millions are being hammered by the crippling cost of living, and need reliable vehicles to get them to work, school and the shops, MPs' obsession with Net Zero risks being seen as out of touch. This might be expected from Labour, which has effectively outsourced its eco-agenda to major donor Dale Vince and the zealots of Just Stop Oil, who he bankrolls. But what is the Tories' excuse? Voters want a pragmatic environmental strategy. They will not forgive politicians whose reckless virtue-signalling leaves them facing debt and difficulty. Does anything tug on the heartstrings like hospital consultants whose NHS salaries average 128,000 whining that they are not paid enough? One agitator behind this month's strikes by the hard-Left British Medical Association boasts of boosting his NHS income by 350 an hour doing lucrative private work. So much for Corbynite posturing! As NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard rightly said yesterday, the most vulnerable patients will 'pay the price' for this callous walkout, adding to the 650,000 operations and appointments already cancelled since December. Some will tragically die. The ever belligerent BMA's pay demands are, of course, ludicrously excessive and politically motivated. How appalling that the country's most respected profession is putting the sick at risk. For years it has been suspected that drivers are being ripped off at the pumps. Petrol retailers are accused of profiteering by hiking forecourt prices sharply when wholesale costs rise, but being painfully slow to lower them when they plummet. So we welcome ministers cracking down on this dubious practice by backing a new 'Pump Watch' website. This will let motorists compare petrol prices in their area potentially saving them hundreds of pounds a year each. To get the scheme up and running, the Government needs to step on the gas.