Brussels was said to be preparing for a major climbdown on vehicle emissions rules amid a revolt by member states including Germany and Italy.
Manfred Weber, head of the European Parliament’s biggest grouping of MEPs, said a ban on petrol, diesel and hybrid cars scheduled for 2035 was now off the table indefinitely.
The dramatic reversal across the Channel will be seen as a fresh blow to Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, and Labour’s Net Zero policies that critics say risk damaging industry and driving up costs for households.
Ministers are now facing calls from the car industry to revisit Britain’s own plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and hybrids from 2035.
Before these deadlines, car makers must also hit electric car sales targets under the so-called zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
On Thursday night, the Government insisted it remained committed to the policies. A review has been pencilled in for 2027.
But Claire Coutinho, the Conservative Shadow Energy Secretary, said: “Rather than banning, taxing and forcing people into electric cars, the Government should get out of the way and back consumer choice.
“That’s why we have to repeal the Net Zero legislation, cut people’s electricity bills by 20% with our Cheap Power Plan and allow people to use that cheap electricity to buy the products they want to, when they want to.
“Forcing people to buy expensive technologies before they’re ready simply for the sake of meeting a Net Zero target just makes people poorer.”
Richard Tice, of Reform UK, said: “We should stop the internal combustion engine ban as part of scrapping Net Zero.
“This is the only way to save the UK automotive industry.”...<<<Read More>>>...
