Say NO to Mayor Khan's ULEZ tax on London drivers.
The Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, plans to expand the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to cover the whole of London, a policy which has a direct and immediate impact on those in my constituency.
I have made my own position on Mayor Khan’s plans clear before: this would have a disproportionate effect on our local community – forcing people who own older vehicles to either pay high daily charges or get a new car – when times are particularly hard with the cost of living.
This tax on drivers will be particularly damaging for London-based tradespeople. There are currently 30,000 non-compliant trade vans operating in London; there aren’t even 30,000 ULEZ-compliant vans for sale in the whole of the UK. Mayor Khan’s plans aren’t just hurting Londoners. They’re unworkable.
Indeed, even the Mayor's primary motivation for expanding the ULEZ - concern for the impact of poor air quality on public health - is nonsensical. Pricing Londoners out of their vehicles will force them to use the Underground, where air quality can be around 15 times more polluted than at street level. Many tube lines, including the Northern and Victoria, are currently exposing commuters to 8 times above the UK safe limit for toxic particles (PM2.5).
To compound this, the Mayor's own report into the impact on surface air quality of expanding the ULEZ, which can be found at the bottom of this page, outlined that it would only have moderate impacts on NOx road traffic emissions and PM emissions.
The London Assembly were in a position to prevent the Mayor’s expansion plans, but the Labour Assembly member for Barnet and Camden voted instead to support him rather than represent their constituent’s interests. The Mayor and the Labour Party in London have already increased the tax burden on Londoners and are now intending to do so again.
I will continue to voice my opposition to policies introduced by the Mayor that have an undeniably detrimental impact on the lives of my constituents.
It would be appreciated if you could take the time to fill out the short survey below - so that I can be sure of the views of my constituents.