Miliband refused to meet motor trade body to discuss zero emissions mandate
Ed Miliband refused to meet the UK motor industry’s largest trade body during his two-year stint as energy secretary, despite the government’s controversial targets for electric vehicle sales falling partly under his department’s purview.
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) boss Mike Hawes said his lobby group’s requests to meet the Labour heavyweight and discuss the so-called zero emission vehicle mandate fell on deaf dears, despite warnings the policy will hollow out the UK’s carmaking sector.
“We try and engage with all government departments, and Desnz [the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero] was the one we were least successful with,” Hawes told reporters. Asked whether he had any meetings with energy ministers during the Starmer administration, he said: “No. I’ve been in some with officials and junior ministers.”
The ZEV mandate is a flagship environmental policy forcing carmakers to produce a greater share of all-electric vehicles over time. It has provoked considerable unrest among the UK’s auto manufacturers who, along with the SMMT, argue even in its early stages it is already too ambitious.
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Currently, roughly 30 per cent of all vehicles sold by car and van manufacturers must produce zero-emissions. Next year, that target, which was first introduced by the last Conservative government, is set to rise to 34 per cent before hitting 46 per cent in 2028. The ultimate aim is for all new vehicles sold in Britain to be all-electric by 2035, fully phasing out both the internal combustion engine and plug-in hybrid.
Responsibility for the mandate straddles the Department of Transport, Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Desnz, where Miliband was energy secretary for two years before Andy Burnham chose him to run the Foreign Office earlier this month.
The lack of singular responsibility had led the policy to be ensnared in a political debate, with the DBT and Number 10 both pushing to water down the proposals to avoid aggravating the operating environment for Britain’s already struggling carmakers.
Before his defenestration last month, Keir Starmer was planning to pull rank on his energy secretary amid pressure from the industry and business committee chair Liam Byrne, according to a report in The Sunday Times.
Hawes said reform to the mandate was vital. “The consensus is, we need a review,” he told reporters. “A review was slated for 2027, it needs to be brought forward, it needs to be resolved this year,”
He added that carmakers in Britain are keeping investment decisions on ice until they get clarity on the mandate, warning that some choose to make those investments in other markets were the current framework to remain in place.
Stellantis cited the policy as a key factor behind its decision to shutter a major van-making plant in Luton in 2024. The Vauxhall maker’s chief executive warned all “Stellantis production in the UK could stop” without a rule change.
Outside Desnz, the SMMT’s dialogue with other government departments had been very positive, according to Hawes, who said he had already spoken with new business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Desnz was approached for comment.