Khan accused of utilizing ULEZ to repair ‘mismanagement’ as scale of fines laid naked
Sadiq Khan has been accused of utilizing ULEZ to repair “his own financial mismanagement”, as the dimensions of the fines has been unveiled.
Earlier right now it was revealed that Transport for London (TfL) has handed out £400million value of fines in lower than 18 months to drivers who didn’t pay the ULEZ cost.
Tory MP Louie French claimed the enlargement of ULEZ, set to be unrolled in August, is about offering “more money for the mayor’s pocket”.
Meanwhile, Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall claimed Mr Khan is “taxing the poorest to fix his own financial mismanagement”.
Sadiq Khan has confronted rising backlash in latest months for his plans to develop the ULEZ in London, with the Mayor going through a High Court problem over the plans.
The listening to, going down in July, will successfully determine whether or not Mr Khan acted legally or illegally in giving the go-ahead for the scheme’s enlargement.
The £12.50 ULEZ cost applies to automobiles that don’t meet up-to-date emissions requirements and at present covers internal London, however will probably be expanded to cowl the entire of London.
Conservative Mayoral Candidate Dan Korski advised the Daily Express: “I will scrap the ULEZ expansion on my first day in office and joining my campaign is the best way to help stop this dreadful policy. Hitting nearly 2.5 million people over 18 months with fines is quite enough. Expanding the ULEZ by many orders of magnitude is simply not necessary at the height of a cost-of-living crisis.
“When you have a look at the air pollution on the tube, and the information indicating probably the most polluting vehicles will come off our roads within the close to future anyway, it’s clear ULEZ just isn’t a good or efficient means to make sure Londoners breathe cleaner air.
“And with 80 percent of London’s carbon emissions coming from buildings and much of the rest from construction, it won’t help the environment significantly either.
“But it should unfairly punish much less well-off households and small companies on the sting of our metropolis.
“The fact this Mayor has bankrupted TFL, and the potential for the ULEZ expansion to raise desperately needed funds for it, goes, I think, some way to explaining Khan’s commitment to this scheme, despite its obvious unpopularity and ineffectiveness.”
Meanwhile, Ms Hall mentioned: “Sadiq Khan should not be taxing the poorest to fix his own financial mismanagement and as Mayor, I would stop the ULEZ expansion on day one. I am the only candidate in the Conservative Mayoral selection who can beat him and deliver that.”
Mr French agreed, telling the Express: “These eye-watering figures again highlight what ULEZ expansion is about – more money for the Mayor’s pocket.
“TFL’s forecasts have additionally proven that ULEZ enlargement will increase greater than £1bn within the first two years, proper out of the pockets of hardworking folks in Greater London.
“Khan is pickpocketing Outer London, punishing people who have no choice but to use their cars and vans to get to work, drop their children off at school or attend hospital appointments.
“This is a well timed reminder that the enlargement is all about cash and that Labour does not get the problems holding Outer Londoners up at night time.”
Between January 2022 and April 2023, 2,468,471 penalty cost notices have been issued.
The Ultra Low Emission zone is a £12.50 cost issued for driving in sure zones in London. If the automobile doesn’t meet ULEZ emission requirements, drivers who fail to pay obtain a penalty cost discover of as much as £180.
This is decreased to £90 if paid inside two weeks. The fines elevated in January from £160 and £80 respectively.