ANOTHER day and another Government U-turn.

Dithering Theresa Maybe and her ministers seem incapable of making a policy announcement and sticking to it.

The Prime Minister has signalled that she intends to now put the brakes on Government plans to introduce a £20-a-day toxin tax for motorists driving diesel cars.

After a storm of protests from diesel drivers who face a nightmare of increased congestion charges, hikes in road tax and poor resale values, Mrs May admitted a toxin levy would unfairly penalise motorists who were wrongly led to believe that diesel cars were an eco-friendly option.

It is the latest U-turn by the Government, which last month ditched budget plans to hike National Insurance.

Drivers who have found themselves stuck with a diesel car accept that urgent action is needed to reduce air pollution but measures to curb emissions should focus on the dirtiest vehicles first, whether petrol or diesel.

Successive governments encouraged the uptake of diesels by drivers to meet CO2 emissions reduction targets. Former Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown, for example, introduced a lower vehicle tax in 2001 to encourage people to buy diesel cars.

Authorities should analyse the sources of air pollution before targeting owners of particular vehicles. There needs to be government support to phase out older cars, buses and taxis as these do the highest mileages in the most polluted areas.

And any proposed charging regime linked to clean air zones should go hand-in-hand with efforts to tackle congestion.

It is clear that the public has been mis-sold on the benefits of diesel.

People who bought these vehicles in good faith should not be punished.