Sadiq Khan is not making any friends. Protests at Tooting Broadway station, a camera toppled to the ground in Hatfield, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s denunciation and the shadow of the Uxbridge by-election. Today, London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone has expanded beyond the North and South Circular roads to the outer boroughs. Consequently, the Ulez war has ramped up another level.
It means that most diesel cars made before 2015 and petrol cars made before 2005 will fail the emissions test and the drivers will be charged £12.50 a day.
And while London Mayor Sadiq Khan is defending his trademark policy in the face of a stream of criticism, saboteurs have destroyed or thrown paint on around 500 of the 2000 new cameras from Bromley to Romford. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that it was the wrong priority given the pressure families are already under due to the cost of living crisis. Mark Harper, the transport secretary, called it nothing more than a cash grab. Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk TV this morning called Khan a liar and a coward.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
But Sadiq Khan defended the policy on Times Radio, comparing its potential success to that of the indoor smoking ban. He said: “You didn’t immediately see the health benefit of reduced lung cancer and so forth.
“It was over a period of time and all the expert evidence is both from the UK and around the globe that reducing air pollution does save lives. It does protect children’s lungs.”
According to figures from the Mayor’s office, 4,000 children die every year from London’s poor air quality, yet this was only listed as the cause of death on one death certificate. The official figures from the Mayor’s office also suggested that, when taking into account that air has been getting cleaner because of cleaner car engines, Ulez had been responsible for reducing emissions of harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 29 per cent. However, according to The Spectator, a team of scientists at Imperial College London challenged these figures and concluded that Ulez had been responsible for around 3 per cent of the NO2 emission reduction.
There have also been reports of an “insane surge” in sales of diesel cars as owners of non-compliant vehicles look to flog their ever-more-costly motors.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer earlier this month urged Sadiq Khan to rethink the Ulez expansion policy as it was widely considered to have lost the Labour party the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. Deputy leader Angela Rayner also conceded that Khan’s Ulez had lost Labour the vote. But Khan did not rethink.
And here we are, with the Ulez war still in full throttle. The only difference now is that, as Sadiq Khan has expanded the theatre of war, so too has he increased his enemies.
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