A High Court challenge by five Conservative-led councils against London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) will be heard today.
The outer London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon along with Surrey County Council started legal action in February over the proposed extension.
A High Court judge gave the councils the go-ahead to bring the challenge in April, saying parts of the local authorities challenge were ‘arguable’. Now, a hearing will start at 10 am today before Mr Justice Swift, who will give his ruling at a later date.
Sadiq Khan’s Ulez has proven hugely controversial amid claims it does little to improve air quality and has an adverse impact on families and tradespeople who need cars.
The scheme was originally launched in April 2019 when it covered the same area as the Congestion Charge zone in Central London before being expanded two years later in October 2021 to cover the area within the North and South Circular roads.
Sadiq Khan now plans to expand the Ulez on August 29 to cover all of Greater London, with new borders reaching Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.
If it goes ahead on that date, Ulez will see all motorists in all parts of London pay a £12.50 daily fee if their vehicle does not meet the required emissions standards.
Councils involved in the legal challenge believe ‘relevant statutory requirements’ were not complied with, anticipated compliance rates in outer London were not considered and the proposed scrappage scheme was not consulted on.
They also declared the overall consultation process was not adequately conducted and that there was a failure to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the plan.
The High Court has allowed the case to proceed on two grounds, the legal basis for the scheme and scrappage.
The extension has provoked a fierce backlash from many living in and around the newly encompassed areas, who face penalties of up to £160 for each day they fail to pay.
Chris Fordham, 62, told AFP as he pulled up at a supermarket just beyond South East London in his non-compliant 2012 diesel van that it wasn’t right.
The self-employed builder who travels into the capital almost every day said that he was thinking about packing up work, blaming the looming new charge and other soaring costs.
Sadiq Khan insists the bigger Ulez will help improve the city’s harmful air pollution, which causes thousands of annual deaths and life-changing illnesses.
However, the only way to de-pollute is by getting rid of older cars, but not everyone can afford a new car. Therefore older vehicles are still on the road, and it wouldn’t matter how much Ulez charge one pays, the older cars are still on the roads pouring out pollutants, so what good is the Ulez charge, unless they’re using the money to filter out the dangerous toxins in some way.
But ask yourself what profit is gained from all this, and whose pockets are being filled with that profit? Data obtained from the Mayor of London’s Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the years 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 revealed that last year’s gross income from the Ulez (Ultra Low Emission Zone) charges increased to £225.7 million, that’s a lot of profit!
Apparently, any money obtained from the scheme is reinvested into running and improving London’s transport grid, such as expanding bus routes in outer London. The maintenance of Ulez also requires significant expenditure on new cameras, toll facilities, traffic management, administration, and support services.
Whenever we hear the word ‘administration’ you just know that the money we pay out doesn’t go towards what we believe it does, or what they tell us it does – I bet Sadiq Khan rubs his hands together at night before he goes to sleep? As he gets driven to work in a £300,000 armoured car – we are being robbed blind, and remember, pollution is perfectly acceptable if you pay your £12.50 a day.
The UK public is facing the largest attacks on their freedom of speech and personal freedoms than they’ve ever encountered before.
It’s taken a while but the public is becoming aware of this and what’s been going on in the background, and now it’s all coming to the forefront – who and what’s behind it but how do we stop it? And remember, government doesn’t support the poor or working class, they only support the rich Metropolitan elite.
If only Sadiq Khan put as much energy into solving knife crime in London, but of course, there’s no money in that, is there? And then he claims paying the Ulez charge will save lives while ignoring the people getting stabbed every day – this man clearly has his head up his posterior – I bet it’s not lavender-scented up there!
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 