The Voice

CommentIsLinked@LDV: Vince Cable – Oil – the next shock waiting in the pipeline

By | Mon 8th June 2009 - 12:58 pm

Over at the Daily Mail, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable examines how to cope with another surge in oil prices, during a time of recession and rising unemployment. Here’s his conclusion:

It is more obvious than ever that the future lies with fuel-efficient and low-carbon cars. Those who are able to switch now will save a lot of money. The Government should therefore be more intelligent when it comes to helping the car industry.

Labour’s scrappage scheme for old bangers is largely a waste of taxpayers’ money. It would be more useful to concentrate on swaps for the new generation of hybrid cars or others offering economical mileage or new British technology.

Last week, I criticised Lord Mandelson’s offer to underwrite a deal ‘saving’ Vauxhall, which risks becoming a handout to Russian billionaires. Help for new technology for the whole UK car industry to get greener would make far more sense than a dodgy deal with Deripaska.

Long-term thinking is difficult in the current political crisis, when most politicians are obsessed by tomorrow’s headlines, our Prime Minister is powerless and he clearly has no confidence in his Chancellor.

But our future as a country depends much more on our ability to plan ahead for the next oil shock and the post-oil world.

You can read the article in full HERE.

PS: Lib Dem Voice extends its best wishes for a speedy recovery to Vince, who is currently recovering from surgery, having been rushed to hospital with appendicitis last week.

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