Labour will promise to introduce a car scrappage scheme in a bid to encourage drivers to buy electric vehicles.

Cars which are more than 10 years old and run on fossil fuels could be traded in for a £2,000 discount on a new electric vehicle under the proposals.

The scheme would run for one year and will aim to replace 400,000 of the most polluting cars with electric vehicles.

Half of the discount would be funded by the Government, with the other £1,000 being paid for by manufacturers.

The party will call on all business car fleets to be made 100% electric by 2025, and will remove the £320 Vehicle Excise Duty surcharge on electric vehicles purchased for private fleet use above £40,000 for two years.

Rebecca Long-Bailey
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Philip Toscano/PA)

Labour will also commit to making the entire Government car fleet electric by 2025.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey will use a speech to the Labour Party conference in Brighton on Tuesday to announce the plans.

She said: “Tackling the climate emergency provides an opportunity to upgrade our economy and way of life.

“Instead of driving old polluting cars, we want ordinary people to have the ability to drive new, clean and green cars.

“The air in our cities will be cleaner and the UK’s carbon emissions will be lower. Increased demand for electric cars will also give a much needed boost to our automobile industry, creating thousands of new jobs.”