Politicians are known for saying bland things. That’s what they do. If they say bold or interesting things, they make enemies faster than they make friends. The exception is firebrand populists, who usually say whatever they feel, safe in the knowledge that it isn’t costing them a chance to run the country. But those who run the country have to say bland things.

Sir Keir Starmer visited Jaguar Land Rover today, in order to announce a slight watering down of the absurdly-punishing Zero Emission Vehicle mandate.

Quoth he, in part:

So today – we’re going to introduce much more flexibility into EV mandates.

We’re going to help car companies based in Britain reach the targets in a way that supports growth.

We’re going to cut any fines – which I do not want or expect to see – by 20% and any money that is raised – would be invested directly back into support for the British car industry.

He doesn’t want to issue any fines, he doesn’t expect to issue any fines, but he’s cutting the size of the fines he does not want to make nor expects to make. Make sense to you? Why not just… I dunno… drop the fines that aren’t going to be made, if they aren’t going to be made?

He also came out with:

As Rachel has said, we are also putting £2.3 billion pounds into the British car industry, giving people tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year to help them switch to electric.

Improving charging infrastructure. That is a massive factor when people are thinking about switching and our approach means we are seeing a new public charging point popping up every half an hour.

Because this is the moment when we back British business and charge up the electric revolution.

British electric cars running off clean British power, made by British workers.

British cars for British workers! 

It’s a wonder that the workers standing behind him didn’t just get back to work at that point. Ya know. Back to making the British cars for British workers.

Afterwords, in response to a question from the Telegraph, he said:

I see net zero as a real opportunity. There’s a global race on for the jobs of the future in relation to net zero, more investment is coming into this country in relation to renewables than any other sector. I don’t think now is the time to step away from that race, now is the time to double down on that race.

I would like to point out that the lion’s share of the investment coming into the UK in relation to renewables is for building wind and solar farms. For example, in October 2024, the PM’s press office was pleased to announce a “Tidalwave [sic] of clean energy investment worth billions.”

The total announced was apparently north of £24 bill. The press release helpfully lists:

• Iberdrola doubling its investment from £12 to £24 billion. £4 billion for East Anglia 2 wind farm – no mention of what the other £8 bill is for.
• Orsted coming in with £8 bill for a wind farm
• Greenvolt with £2.5 bill for a wind farm
• SeAH with £225 mill for wind technology in Teesside [monopiles I think].
• Macquarie with £1.3 bill for a solar farm and ultra-fast chargers
• BW Group with £300 million for a battery energy storage system
• Holtec with £325 for a materials factory for Hinckley Point C

So apart from about £550 million, the identifiable projects of the investments are not actually building anything – they’re installing things manufactured elsewhere, things that they expect to get a handsome return on, by overcharging the UK public for electricity. And the £550 million remainder does not really inspire confidence that it is going to be creating something that might increase the UK’s overall wealth.

(Side note. I think I’m the only one who has read this press release since October. For it includes this paragraph:

This follows the announcement earlier this week that up to 500 UK manufacturing jobs are set to be supported as bus operator Go Ahead confirms a major £500 million investment to decarbonise its fleet including. This includes creating a new dedicated manufacturing line and partnership with Northern Ireland-based UK bus manufacturer Wrightbus.

SIC.)

On went Sir Keir with his answer,

Some country’s going to win the race when it comes to renewables and the changes for net zero. I want Britain to be in that race and I want us to win that race. So yes we will work with all sectors, as we’ve shown today, we’re not ideological, we’re pragmatic, if there’s flexibilities that help which is what we’ve done today then of course we’ll take those steps.

If we win the race to Net Zero, it will only be by installing things that other countries, often geopolitical rivals, have built for us. The owners of the new facilities are usually foreigners, and such wealth as is created by overcharging us for electricity flows out of the UK. Ha! Unlike the leccy.

And even if we were winning some sort of technological race, to build the first small modular reactor, whatever, it would not benefit us if our geopolitical rivals were mysteriously able to simply cut and paste our methods into their far more efficient economies. Alternatively, we could let them win the race, and then buy their stuff, and install it here. Why break the habit of a lifetime?

Back to Sir K.

But not to understand that net zero, the electric cars of the future… There’s a global race for that, we don’t wanna back away from that race, we want to win that race because therein lies the wealth of our country, the wealth of our businesses like this [JLR] and the jobs of not just the people standing here but the jobs of their children and the jobs of their children’s children.

What a load of tosh. Balderdash. The electric cars we are ultimately forced to buy, through no fault of our own, will be made in countries where electricity is cheap and labour is cheap and environmental standards are lower. I foresee a good market for used petrol cars for the next hundred years, unless our leaders see fit to tax them off the road.

Jaguar Land Rover, it may be said, is not a British company. And whatever the Land Rover part might be doing, Jaguar seems to be the ultimate in self-recycling companies at the moment. Which is a crying shame when you look back at some of the cars they have made.

I may also note that the government decided today, or they decided it before but announced it today, that small manufacturers would be exempt from the ZEV mandate. So the likes of Aston Martin, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, will not be driven off the cliff entirely by being forced to build electric cars that NO-ONE WANTS. Thank heaven for small mercies. But as the entire country is on the road to hell, it’s probably only a temporary reprieve. British cars for British workers.

Add emphasis here. As the saying goes.

Bonus track:

Sit back, kick off your shoes, etc. Thirty-six years old.