Sadiq Khan is facing a backlash from Tory MPs against his plans to extend the ultra-low emission zone to the Greater London boundary.
The Mayor announced last week that he wanted to expand the £12.50-a-day Ulez from the suburbs — it currently is in force up to the North and South Circular roads — across all 33 London boroughs by the end of next year.
But Tory MP for Orpington Gareth Bacon described the proposal - dubbed the “GL-Ulez” - as “madness” and warned it would be fiercely opposed by a number of MPs representing outer London constituencies.
He said his constituency did not have the same pollution or congestion as inner London and accused Mr Khan of simply trying to generate additional funds for TfL, which has seen its fares income collapse due to the pandemic.
Mr Bacon, who has launched a petition opposing the expansion, said people were “horrified” at the prospect - including some Labour MPs.
Sadiq Khan is planning to expand ULEZ across Greater London, including #Orpington, next year 🚨
— Gareth Bacon MP (@GarethBaconMP) March 7, 2022
It will hit people who can't afford to buy a new vehicle with a daily £12.50 driving bill.
Sign the petition to stop Khan's new tax ⏩ https://t.co/EYJlwSGSSk pic.twitter.com/Qn162vNrq3
“I think my constituents will be appalled,” he told the Standard. “There is no justification on air quality grounds for expanding the Ulez. This is a money-raising exercise.
“People in outer London don’t have the public transport alternatives. My constituency doesn’t have the Tube. My constituency is the biggest in Greater London. To get around by public transport would take absolutely ages.”
Most petrol cars registered before 2005 and diesel vehicles registered before 2015 have to pay the Ulez, with a £160 fine for those who fail to do so.
Mr Khan has asked the Government for £180 million for a scrappage scheme to help poorer Londoners replace their polluting vehicles to avoid the levy. A £61m scrappage scheme set up for the suburban expansion of the Ulez last October was oversubscribed and ran out of cash after helping about 14,000 people.
We’ll deliver the biggest scrappage scheme feasible to help Londoners adapt to a London-wide ULEZ. The Government must also step up and commit to providing extra support for a scrappage scheme in London – like they are doing for other cities around the country. pic.twitter.com/6MGAbomBeg
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) March 4, 2022
Mr Khan, in announcing his aim to expand the Ulez, abandoned alternative plans to impose a £3.50-a-day Greater London boundary charge on out-of-town motorists or a £2-a-day “clean air charge” on all petrol and diesel vehicles.
Mr Bacon said this had given him hope that the Greater London Ulez could also be defeated. “This will cut cross-party and not have a huge amount of support,” he said.
“It’s not just people who live inside Greater London who will be affected by this. The economic and social harm is very significant at a time we are trying to recover from the pandemic.
“If you have got an older vehicle - even one as ‘new’ as a 2013/14 diesel - it’s going to cost you £4,500 a year to use that car if you come in every day. That is before taxing it or putting fuel in it.”
City Hall claims that emissions of toxic air from road transport in outer London are not reducing at the same speed as in central and inner London, highlighting the need for action.
It published Londonwide data in January showing that Bromley, which includes Orpington, had the fifth highest level of PM2.5 particulate emissions, the sixth highest nitrogen oxides emissions and seventh highest CO2 emissions from road transport in 2019.
A mayoral spokesman said: “Only people driving the most polluting cars will have to pay the charge and the Mayor has committed to as big a scrappage scheme as is feasible in order to help Londoners most in need.
“Too often we have seen measures to tackle air pollution and the climate emergency delayed because it’s viewed as being too hard or politically inconvenient, but the mayor is not willing to put off making the changes that are in his power here in London.”
A London Labour spokesman said: "The Tories have opposed every measure the mayor has taken to reduce air pollution and congestion in London.
“Rather than trying to score political points, the Tories in London should be backing measures that will help protect the health of Londoners they represent and calling on the Tory government to give London its fair share of funding to move to greener vehicles.”
