Lobbyist opposed to UK petrol cars ban is director of fuel additive firm
A lobbyist who has worked with Conservative MPs to argue that the development of as yet unproven fuel additives means it is unnecessary to phase out petrol and diesel engines is the director of a firm developing such products, it has emerged.
Howard Cox, who runs the FairFuelUK campaign, is heavily involved with the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on fair fuel, which recommended last year that ministers urgently look at fuel additives, saying these reduced emissions by more than 50%.
An investigation by the environmental research group DeSmog has found that Cox is one of two directors of a company called Ultimum, which markets an additive that it describes as “the 21st-century vehicle emissions solution”.
Cox was heavily involved in the all-party group report, which argued that the government should drop its proposed ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, citing a series of reasons. His commercial interest was not listed.
The other Ultimum director is the former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik, who works with a motorcycling campaign group and was quoted in the report.
Cox told the Guardian he rejected any conflict of interest, saying he supported fuel additives, known as catalysts, anyway and was unlikely to make any money from the venture.
However, the revelation raises more questions about the connections of some Conservative MPs who are vocally querying the government’s net zero and wider green policies, including the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles.
Craig Mackinlay, the Conservative MP who chairs the all-party group on fair fuel, also heads the new Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG), which climate scientists have accused of seeking to derail green policies by arguing they are too damaging to the
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