Mayor of London Sadiq Khan backs scheme to ship 4x4s to Ukraine in obvious main U-turn

The Mayor of London has pledged his assist to ship 4x4s to Ukraine that will in any other case be scrapped below town’s ULEZ scheme.

Sadiq Khan had beforehand blocked automobiles that weren’t ULEZ compliant from being despatched to the nation, saying he didn’t consider altering the environmental scheme for exports was attainable below present legal guidelines.

But now, Mr Khan has requested Transport Secretary Mark Harper to permit Londoners – and others throughout the UK – to donate appropriate autos to Ukraine by way of scrappage schemes.

Under the scheme’s plan, which got here into power in August, Londoners with autos that fall foul of emission requirements can declare as much as £2,000 when their non-compliant autos are scrapped.

In a letter, collectively despatched to Mr Harper by Mr Khan and former defence secretary Ben Wallace, ministers are urged to provide motorists “money for taking polluting vehicles off our cities’ streets while providing vital support towards the people of Ukraine”.

“We understand there is a particular requirement for 4×4 vehicles, as well as emergency service vehicles,” it says.

Mr Khan and Mr Wallace stated they’d reached their conclusion following “conversations with the mayor’s office in Kyiv and other partners.”

It was beforehand reported by The Telegraph that Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, had written to his London counterpart to recommend the concept as a part of the ULEZ scrappage scheme.

“This could be most quickly done by altering the national regulations for the Certificate of Destruction, which is required as proof that a vehicle has been permanently scrapped, to instead enable the export of suitable vehicles to Ukraine via a registered charity or national scheme,” the letter stated.

“We recognise that any such change would need cross-departmental co-ordination within government, not least to ensure that any vehicles sent to Ukraine meet their needs.”

Mr Harper has since responded, saying Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has written to the mayor “seeking clarity from you on precisely what legal barriers you believe you face”.

He added within the letter that after the additional data has been supplied, his officers will “of course be ready to support in identifying options to resolve this matter”.