Andrew. What I find staggering to understand in the comments and in your historical commentary, is the opposition to EV’s and the transition to net zero - this was the UKs opportunity- as an example, I bought LEAF and AESC to UK in 2011. China first set out its industrial strategy to dominate in NEV In 1992 - they told us they would leap-frog the west 25years ago. Yet the EU, UK and various commentators failed to invest in the emerging technology, failed to get behind the inevitable change and now bemoan the decline of our manufacturing industry. The car industry survives on its ability to manifest changes in line with changing customer requirements- we have failed to invest in batteries, in EV, in software stacks and autonomous technology. We failed to embrace an industrial strategy for our country and now we’re, unsurprisingly on the back foot.

This is spot-on @jjpjolly Seems extraordinary that @unitetheunion would be taking such a short term view for their workforce. Jobs survive in the long term by investment in future technologies not by hiding behind tariffs or hoping to delay the inevitable. theguardian.com/environment/…

If reports are correct that Starmer is preparing to dilute the ZEV Mandate to just 50% EV penetration by 2030, it feels like another sign of a government drifting from conviction to populism. The UK was once renowned for policy consistency. Investors could make long-term decisions knowing governments would largely stick to the framework they had created. Today we seem to be seeing more U-turns than a London taxi. Whether you support electrification or not is almost beside the point. The ZEV Mandate created certainty. It allowed global automotive companies to commit capital, technology and jobs to the UK. Recent investments by Nissan in new LEAF and Juke EV production at Sunderland, Chery’s UK ambitions, battery investments in Sunderland and Somerset, and billions of pounds of supply-chain commitments were all made against the backdrop of a clear regulatory trajectory. When governments repeatedly change direction, investors start asking a simple question: “Why should we trust the UK?” The damage goes far beyond vehicle manufacturing. Charging infrastructure providers, battery suppliers, energy companies, software developers and skills providers have all invested based on expectations created by government policy. Every retreat from those commitments casts future investment into doubt. The bigger strategic issue is whether the UK will ultimately be included within the EU’s emerging “Made in Europe” industrial ecosystem. If Europe increasingly seeks to localise battery, vehicle and clean technology supply chains, the UK’s greatest risk is not that the transition happens too quickly, but that it happens elsewhere. Industrial leadership requires consistency. Businesses can adapt to tough targets. What they struggle to adapt to is uncertainty. Whatever your view on EVs, a country cannot build a world-class manufacturing sector if its industrial strategy changes every time the political weather does.