Kemi Badenoch found herself on shaky ground during Prime Minister’s Questions today (27th November) when Sir Keir Starmer reminded her just who was behind the controversial electric vehicle (EV) mandate. Spoiler alert: it was her own party.
Discussing Vauxhall’s announcement to close its Luton van factory, putting 1,100 jobs at risk, Badenoch attempted to shift blame onto Labour, citing the EV mandate as a key reason for the closure. But Sir Keir wasn’t having it, calmly pointing out that the mandates were introduced by the last government. You know, the one she was very much part of.
Visibly rattled, Badenoch countered by saying that as business secretary, her team had actually watered down the mandate. A bold defence, considering it still didn’t absolve her government of responsibility.
It’s a bit like setting a bonfire, then boasting you turned it into a small campfire when the neighbours start complaining about the smoke.
Meanwhile, political commentators online were quick to highlight the broader implications of such debates. James Murray, responding to a post by Andrew Neil, summed up the situation neatly: “If you ditch net zero policies, you might get a few extra years flogging outdated tech like internal combustion engines. But eventually, you’ll be wiped out by clean-tech imports from countries like China.”
In other words, clinging to 20th-century tech is about as forward-thinking as trying to sell DVDs in the Netflix era.
Murray continued: “There’s no future for the UK—or the EU or US—as manufacturers of old-school combustion engines and boilers. China’s already flooding the market with low-cost, high-performance EVs, heat pumps, solar panels, and batteries. This really should be obvious after thinking about it for more than a few seconds.”
As Badenoch tried to land political punches and dodge responsibility, the real issue loomed large: without embracing clean technology, the UK risks losing not just factory jobs but its entire industrial relevance.
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