A backlash against a proposed 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales was growing last night as Downing Street insisted it was sticking to the plan.

Senior Tories branded the deadline ‘costly virtue-signalling’ which could destroy Britain’s car-making industry, and urged ministers to delay it ‘immediately’.

But No 10 said there were ‘no plans’ to renege on the target, which is designed to turbocharge the switch to electric vehicles as part of efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Former Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Tory MP for North East Somerset, said the rush to net-zero ‘will make us cold and poor’.

He warned this was ‘especially true’ of the proposed 2030 ban, which he said would make buying a car more expensive.

Former Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured), Tory MP for North East Somerset, said the rush to net-zero ‘will make us cold and poor’

Tory ex-minister Sir John Redwood (pictured) said the ‘damaging’ ban would ‘accelerate the closure of the current UK plants, costing us many jobs and much output’

The MP added: ‘It will undermine our car industry, which will not be ready to change in time, potentially costing thousands of jobs. 

‘Other countries are not following this timetable so it won’t even ‘save the planet’, it will merely be costly virtue-signalling and a burden to British taxpayers.’

Tory ex-minister Sir John Redwood said the ‘damaging’ ban would ‘accelerate the closure of the current UK plants, costing us many jobs and much output’.

He added: ‘The Government has to understand this ban is a major threat to our industry and should lift it immediately.’

Another ex-senior Cabinet minister said: ‘The public are in a very different space from political decision-makers, which in the current climate does not bode well.’

But Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer claimed the proposed 2030 date was achievable despite a majority of the public disagreeing in a poll for The Daily Mail published yesterday.

The former transport minister was quizzed on radio station LBC about the Mail’s new campaign to re-think the 2030 target. She said: ‘I did a roundtable with a number of manufacturers to understand whether they would be able to hit that timescale.

‘And my department of the time worked very, very closely with the manufacturers to make sure that it was achievable for them. We are taking action to get to net-zero, to cut down on emissions.

‘Cars are a significant part of that in terms of pollution, and net-zero. And that’s why the Government is taking the action that it is.’

Asked about our poll that showed a majority of people think the ban date is too soon, she added: ‘Well the question I think is, this is for new vehicles. So the ban is in relation to new vehicles.

‘The question is, are the manufacturers ready to produce enough cars and … make sure that they can still operate in a financially profitable way?

But Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer (pictured) claimed the proposed 2030 date was achievable despite a majority of the public disagreeing in a poll for The Daily Mail published yesterday

‘So that is what the department has been focusing on. To make sure that those companies still can operate well and do business in this country.’

Asked if she would stick to 2030, she said: ‘Well, those are decisions for the Transport Secretary, but from my experience that was achievable when I was in that department, yes.’

Asked if the 2030 target was under review, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘There are no plans to change our approach.

‘We think that the commitment will not only lower emissions but provide certainty to the industry, ahead of European competitors.

‘But of course, it’s right to recognise the role that vehicle manufacturers and supply chains play in that transition.

‘And of course, we will keep listening to their concerns.’