No that is not some long-haired environmentalist speaking, but the ex-chairman of Shell, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart.

He is arguing that the EU should ban the sale of cars that do under 35 miles to the gallon (good thing his is not saying that in America – the roads would be empty!!)

The UK pro-car lobby opposes the idea, saying drivers of the most polluting cars pay extra through road tax and petrol duty. But Sir Mark said this simply let rich people avoid taking responsibility for tackling climate change.

Sir Mark said: “Nobody needs a car that does 10-15mpg. “We need very tough regulation saying that you can’t drive or build something less than a certain standard. You would be allowed to drive an Aston Martin – but only if it did 50-60mpg.”

I wonder what Sir Mark drives? I doubt it is a mini…