One moral of the Budget is to beware of governments offering you incentives to buy a particular kind of car. On the advice of the then EU Transport Commissioner Lord Kinnock 25 years ago, the Blair government encouraged us all to buy diesel vehicles on the grounds they did more miles to the gallon and were therefore better for the environment. A few years later those who fell for the bait – including me – suddenly found ourselves treated like antisocial thugs, destroying kids’ lungs, and had our cars driven off the road by ULEZ zones.

But at least we got the chance to drive around for a few years before officialdom turned against us. It was only four months ago that Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced the re-introduction of grants for buyers of new electric vehicles (EVs), who will receive a bung of £3,750 from the taxpayer. But what she has handed out with one hand, Rachel Reeves has just taken away with the other. From 2028, EVs will be subject to a new........

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