Louise Haigh is expected to agree to cut a target for EV sales by about a quarter

In an interview with Sky News, Julia Lopez, who is serving as interim shadow business secretary while Claire Coutinho is on maternity leave, said that the Conservatives would like to get rid of the ZEV [zero emission vehicle] mandate entirely. She said that she did not think there was enough consumer demand for electric vehicles, and that there were not enough charging points.

But she still welcomed reports that Labour will weaken the EV targets. “If Labour wants to be pragmatic and change some of those targets, that’s good,” she said.

The switch to EVs has the potential to create greater emissions savings than any other energy transition policy, while providing drivers with vehicles that can be significantly cheaper to run.

Yet again, this Labour government is heading in the wrong direction. Instead of pandering to corporate lobbying and stalling on the phase out of petrol and diesel vehicles, they should be boosting EV uptake through vehicle scrappage schemes and cheaper, more abundant and more reliable public charging infrastructure.