Time to scrap the scrappage idea
The idea of a car scrappage scheme isn’t a good one to start with. Offering some vast sum in subsidies to bring forward by some months the replacement of the car fleet simply doesn’t make sense in the first place. We have evidence of this from the last couple of times this was tried.
Bad ideas do have a life of their own, obviously, so it’s being suggested again:
A scrappage scheme offering motorists up to £6,000 to trade in old petrol or diesel cars for a new electric vehicle would do little to bolster British carmakers, experts have warned.
The plan, which is being considered by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he seeks to rev up the automotive industry following a lockdown sales collapse and a run of redundancies, would do little to help the UK's biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover.
JLR's only all-electric car, the I-Pace, is built in Austria by contract manufacturer Magna, meaning pumping UK state funds into the proposal would do little to save British jobs.
It is possible to advance the argument that it is necessary to stimulate demand from British factories by dunning British taxpayers. We don’t agree but it’s possible to advance the case.
It’s also possible to advance the case - again we don’t agree - that it’s worth dunning the taxpayer for some vast sum in order to bring forward the replacement of the fossil fuel powered car fleet by one electric by some few months at some vague benefit to the climate. It’ll be a trivial benefit and the resources can be deployed to better effect but the case can be - for it is being - made.
What isn’t possible to is try to use both excuses - sorry, justifications. If the desire is to boost production of British factories then it cannot be for electric cars as we don’t make any. If it is to be about the environment then it can’t be about British production.
Which is a bit of a problem really as the climate change justification on its own is far too trivial to support the subsidy. Of course, we think the boosting British production argument is too trivial too but everyone will agree that £6,000 and up as a subsidy to foreign car buying - however green - is ridiculous.
Scrappage schemes are a bad idea in themselves but this one is a real stinker. Don’t do it.