Diesel cars could be scrapped in a few months in a bid to reduce emissions and improve quality of air across the UK. Department for Transport and Defra are currently working on a scrappage scheme that will see people receive cashback or a discount on low emission cars if they trade in their old diesel cars.
According to The Telegraph, a government source has confirmed that Treasury will finance the plan, which will prioritise geographical areas that have the highest pollution levels.
Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling , is reportedly in support of the scheme but says that it must be properly targeted, admitting that high pollution levels need to be dealt with sooner than later.
He told the House of Commons: "We have to find the right way to migrate the nature of the cars on our roads and the vehicles on our roads to a point where they cause much less of a pollution problem than they do at the moment."
Mr Grayling also committed to an expansion of electric cars and charging points.
This comes weeks after several London boroughs recorded toxic air quality levels, forcing people to stay indoors until the levels subsided.
Westminster council also introduced a 50% surcharge on parking fees for diesel cars in a bid to drive them out of the borough.
Howard Cox, the founder of the FairFuelUK Campaign described the council’s decision as “just greedy unscrupulous money grabbing using dubious emissions evidence as the reason to fleece hard-working motorists.”
He added: “Punishing millions of diesel drivers for mistakes in past UK government policy is neither fair nor honest. There will be a cost in any scrappage scheme, but in the long term the economy and the environment will be the winners.”
Mr. Grayling told the BBC: "The irony is that a decade ago, because of concerns about carbon emissions there was a drive towards diesel... that we now know has a different set of negative effects and the department for the environment is currently preparing, and will launch shortly, our strategy to take tackling the diesel problem to the next level.”
