By Justin Madders

MP for Ellesmere Port

ONLY a couple a weeks ago I joined others in celebrating the latest achievement at the Stellantis (formerly Vauxhall) plant in Ellesmere Port.

A major milestone had been reached because the workforce at Stellantis had restarted production in Ellesmere Port operating as a dedicated electric-only (EV) facility.

A £100 million investment has transformed the plant for EV production. It will specialise initially in electric vans and from next year will also produce a range of electric passenger vehicles across the Stellantis brands.

At the rollout of the first EV vans in our town, Ellesmere Port director Diane Miller said: “The start of EV production at Ellesmere Port signals a bright future for the plant, ensuring it will continue to manufacture vehicles for many years to come.”

Let us all hope that still applies after Rishi Sunak indicated he wants to delay – from 2030 until 2035 – the date when sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles cease in favour of purchases of all-electric cars. This was part of the Prime Minister’s hastily cobbled together announcement that he as going to scale back some of the policies needed to reach net zero by 2050. This statement has to be viewed in the context of a desperate Prime Minister currently averaging a 20% deficit in the opinion polls with less than a year to go before a General Election trying to find a way to recover some ground. To decide to make climate change a political battleground is dangerous for the planet, bad for business investment and I hope challenging for him politically. Rishi Sunak does not deserve to reap any electoral dividends from such an irresponsible political stance ,especially as his speech was followed up by pledges such as ending a tax on meat and compulsory car sharing. Those were among half a dozen or so alleged policies that he was claiming to scrap that didn’t actually exist in the first place.

At the time of the Sunak announcement – made in Downing Street and not, as it should have been, in Parliament – Stellantis said it remained 'committed to achieving 100 per cent zero-emission new car and van sales in the UK and Europe by 2030'. The company spokesperson went on: "Clarity is required from governments on important legislation, especially environmental issues that impact society as a whole." Ford meanwhile, rather less diplomatically, called for “ambition, commitment and consistency” from Government.

However it is delivered, the clear message is that consistency of approach by the Government is essential if we are to achieve our Net Zero goals. That is so important in the automotive sector where investment decisions are made over a 5-10 year span so chopping and changing target dates is not helpful to encourage business confidence of investment. With the future of HS2 up in the air as well any business looking at investing in the UK might well be forgiven for thinking twice, knowing that any plans they have can be changed at the whim of Government.

Labour’s industrial strategy will provide the UK automotive industry with the consistent, long term approach that the sector says it needs.