Just like most of the UK, Castle Point is home to many drivers and commuters.
Since being elected in 2024, this Labour Government has waged a war on motorists through heaping endless taxes and regulations on them. To be clear, I will always be on the side of motorists. In Government, I was proud to back successive Conservative budgets that froze fuel duty for 14 consecutive years, saving drivers at least £65bn.
I recognise that protecting our environment is a priority for any government. However, this cannot be achieved by punishing drivers on the roads and at the petrol pump. Labour tried to hike fuel duty earlier this year, but we forced them into yet another U-turn in May. Unfortunately, they are still enforcing blanket 20mph speed limits on communities against their will and allowing our road network to crumble. We will reverse this.
I back the Conservative Party’s New Plan for Drivers, which will restore common sense to our roads. If elected, we will:
- Fix roads through a National Pothole Patrol – we will launch a national pothole taskforce, to deploy hundreds of specialist repair units, as well as national pothole reporting platform.
- End blanket 20mph schemes – despite major opposition Labour imposed blanket 20mph limits in our towns and cities. We will end the blanket use of 20mph limits and only use when necessary.
- Free up underused road space in bus lanes - councils across the country have turned bus lanes into 24/7 enforcement traps. We will restore a common-sense approach to how road space is used.
- Clear driving test backlogs - we will deliver immediate additional capacity through overtime programmes, delivering up to 200,000 additional tests per year.
- Scrap ban on petrol and diesel cars - the next Conservative Government will completely abolish the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, removing a rigid regulatory burden which means options are dictated by Government policy rather than consumer demand.
The Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch are the only ones with a plan to put motorists first.