Earlier this week, I listened to a number of political journalists on Times Radio mull over an annoucement from UK Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch (right) that, if she gets back into Government, she would remove the EV mandate that her own Government had brought in to law back in early 2024. The pundits flirted with a sensible discussion about policy consistency before retreating into the comfort zone of “but it’s probably necessary to protect the UK car industry.”

Meanwhile the country’s largest car manufacturer, Nissan, announced that the 3rd generation Leaf EV was starting to roll off the production line in Sunderland. What those brainboxes on the radio don’t seem to get is that retooling a production line for such a new car takes many months, sometimes years – a lengthy period where they’re spending lots of money but no cars get made and no revenue flows. We’ve also seen a number of battery gigafactories built and an electric drive chain manufacturer relocate close to the Sunderland plant. All of this takes a huge commitment, investment and risk – and once you’ve made the leap, it is equally difficult and disruptive to jump back.

Badenoch’s proposal would penalise those who made the leap and reward the laggards who sat on their hands and moaned like spoilt toddlers. Meanwhile, Chinese brands will continue to dominate the EV market, the only sector of the global car industry to be expanding (despite what you read everywhere). How is any of this pro-British industry?

As Lucy Siegle pointed out on our Review of 2025 podcast episode, Badenoch desperately needs newspaper headlines as rival right-wingers Reform UK continue to dominate the airwaves. She seems perfectly willing to cripple the motor industry to do it.