Is Labour's drive for electric being swerved by Whitehall?

LABOUR has been accused of “pure hypocrisy” for pushing families and businesses towards using electric vehicles while government departments still hire mostly petrol cars.

- DAVID WILLIAMSON

The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned by 2030 but Sir Keir Starmer’s government has yet to fully embrace electric vehicles itself.

Of 149 vehicles hired over 2024-25 by Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero just six were electric, research has revealed.

Of the 14 vehicles hired by the Department of Health and Social Care over the same period, not a single one was electric, and at the Department for Work and Pensions it was just one out of more than 1,000.