Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is advising the Mayor of London to reconsider his plans to expand the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez) to outer London. Sunak expressed his concern, describing the proposed expansion as an "unnecessary extra tax" during a time when inflation is already causing difficulties for people. He emphasized that this move could burden families when they carry out everyday activities like visiting the supermarket, taking their kids to school, or seeing their GP.
In response, City Hall stated that the mayor would explore alternative ideas to support Londoners.
The recent High Court ruling upheld the lawfulness of expanding the Ulez across London, despite challenges from five Conservative-led councils. The plan aims to charge older, more polluting vehicles £12.50 a day from August 29.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also weighed in on the matter, urging the mayor to reconsider the expansion following a by-election victory for the Conservatives in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Starmer attributed the victory to the impact the Ulez expansion has on people.
The Ulez was initially introduced by Boris Johnson when he was the mayor of London, taking effect in April 2019. Later, under the mayoral term of Sadiq Khan, it was extended beyond the central area to include the North and South Circular roads in 2021. Further expansion to cover all London boroughs was confirmed in November 2022, scheduled to begin on August 29, 2023.
City Hall has claimed that 90% of cars seen driving in outer London already comply with Ulez standards, a statement supported by the UK Statistics Authority, although the watchdog has criticized the mayor for issues related to data transparency.
Mr Sunak said: "It just shows that they are out of touch with the concerns of hard-working people.
"Ultimately there's an elected mayor in London and a Labour Party who are supportive of this policy, and ultimately it's not for the UK government to come and bail them out."
He added: "The Ulez is a policy by the Labour mayor of London, backed by the Labour Party and Keir Starmer and I'd tell them not to do it. No-one is forcing them to do it. They should not do it."
However, Sir Keir rejected that assessment of the policy earlier this week, saying the law "requires the mayor of London to take measures to reduce air pollution once it gets above a certain level".
He added he wanted to "see whether there are things that can be done to make it easier for people" who are affected by the scheme".
A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: "The mayor has been clear that the decision to expand the Ulez was very difficult and not something he took lightly, but necessary to save the lives and health of young and vulnerable Londoners.
"The mayor has been listening to Londoners throughout the Ulez rollout, which is why from next week he is expanding the scrappage scheme to nearly a million families who receive child benefit and all small businesses with up to 50 employees. He will continue to look at new ideas to support Londoners.
"He continues to call on government to further support the switch to cleaner vehicles through funding a targeted national scrappage scheme, or providing additional funding to London, as it has done for other cities implementing clean air zones across the country."
Reacting to the PM’s statement, Dr Chamu Kuppuswamy, Senior Lecturer at Hertfordshire Law School and Global Economy Interdisciplinary Research Lead at the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, told Asian Voice, “A vast majority of people depend on the car, I agree with the PM on that, and unfortunately that is a situation I would like to see changed. It is clear that our way of thinking about how to move around in the country needs to change, but whether the ULEZ expansion will help achieve that change is questionable. Ultimately if this is about our environment, how does just cleaning up a city’s air help the environmental crisis as a whole? It is in places like London that the people use public transport so much more because there are so many more options available!
“It is important to not play politics in the matter of the environment, as the subject is going to stay with us for a long time, and things will come back to bite. We need to keep the bigger picture, and the wider context in perspective, i.e., bringing about behaviour change in people and government investment outside cities in better transport and connectivity, so that overall GHG emissions from the transport sector is addressed.”
