All petrol and diesel vehicles to be banned from driving on roads in 2035 under radical Green Party pledge

Following the manifesto launches from the Liberal Democrats on Monday and the Conservatives on Tuesday, the Green Party are pushing for its biggest-ever return of MPs when Britain goes back to the polls on July 4.

It estimates that it will spend £7billion on public transport infrastructure, £6billion on active travel and £4billion to reduce the climate impact of road transport.

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This would allow Green MPs to push to restore the fuel duty escalator to an end and introduce road pricing as revenue from petrol and diesel receipts continues to fall.

The manifesto outlines that any scheme of road pricing would ensure the protection of users' privacy, with taxes being proportional based on vehicle rate.

With this policy, many Britons could be impacted given the tendency to choose larger SUV-type vehicles, as well as the switch to cars with electric batteries, all of which tend to be heavier.

The Greens would also push for the return of electric vehicle grants, with estimates showing that funding could rise to £5billion per year by the end of the Parliament, alongside the rapid rollout of new EV chargers.

Plug-in Car Grants were cut in 2022 after financing the purchase of almost 500,000 zero emission cars, although they are still available for some vehicles.

A headline pledge from the Green Party is pushing for an end to sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles as early as 2027 as well as a complete usage ban of petrol and diesel vehicles on the road by 2035.

This would mark a huge deviation from other political parties. The Conservatives are sticking with plans to keep the 2035 deadline, while the Lib Dems said they would reinstate the 2030 goal.

While other political groups have yet to make their manifesto announcements, Labour previously said it would return to the 2030 deadline, while Reform UK said it would completely scrap the targets.

The Green Party have called for 20mph to be the default speed limit on roads in all built-up areas to slash danger levels for children, the elderly and disabled people to walk and wheel safely.

The manifesto states: "More government support for ordinary car users and small businesses to replace their vehicles as diesel and petrol engines are phased out.

"More support for firms using heavy goods vehicles to transition away from internal combustion engines and make greater use of rail freight."

Figures from the Green Party show that vehicle exhaust and tyre particulate emissions cost the UK economy £20billion a year and are associated with more than 40,000 deaths annually.

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Matt Finch, UK Policy Manager at Transport & Environment, said: "The Green Party's commitment to a Clean Air Act will ensure communities across the country can breathe easy, and the party has recognised that aviation's emissions are out of control.

"There are bold proposals to support people to make the switch to electric vehicles, as well as proposals to tackle the rise of SUVs and give further support to firms to move away from polluting heavy goods vehicles.

"Although actions to address emissions from ships are completely missing, overall this is a strong manifesto for cleaning up the UK's biggest emitting sector."