My piece published by GB News:
Eight years of Sadiq Khan as the Mayor of London, is eight years of war with motorists. Khan’s Ulez expansion is causing more fear in the community of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Whether you have to wait nervously until pay-day to do your food shop because you have to pay your fines as you cannot afford to buy the newest Ulez compliant car, or you are a parent worried about your children crossing the road because you have to wait until Transport for London (TfL) to restore the ripped traffic lights, Khan’s Ulez expansion impacts all of my residents.
That is why I back the Conservative candidate Susan Hall for Mayor of London, because she will stop the Ulez expansion on the first day of her Mayoralty.
If she becomes Mayor we can finally remove the charges on our drivers.
More of my residents are raising their concerns that there are more cameras being put in place even on roads not in the Ulez expansion zone, this suggests Khan’s introduction of ‘secret technology’ that measures pay per mile.
Khan has to stop road user charging on our Londoners.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN) are the responsibility of the Mayor of London, which Khan currently uses as threats to London Councils that if they are removed, he will cut their Council budget.
LTNs not only worsen air quality, but they create congestion, which contributes to making London the slowest city in the world regarding the movement of traffic.
The average speed in London is seven miles per hour. One of the causes of this is the 20mph zones on main TfL roads that often do far more harm than good.
The Mayor of London, who is also the Chair of TfL, continues to impose these arbitrary limits, which black cabs suffer from the most.
Black cabs are not allowed to use bus lanes and other routes that TfL permitted for buses.
Black cabs play a vital role in London and they deserve our full support. We need to get Khan out and London moving again.
But let’s talk about Khan’s Ulez rip-off. No one is against clear air. Just like no one wants to breathe in polluted air.
Even I agree with the Mayor of London on that and trust me, there is not much on that particular list. However, what we disagree on fundamentally is the processes of how to clean up London’s air.
From the outset, Khan has been intent on pushing his £12.50 daily charge on those drivers whose vehicles are non-compliant.
The fact he held a consultation at all, when we already knew the outcome was all but a foregone conclusion, would be laughable if not for the expense it incurred.
But that’s the thing, it’s not his money. It’s the money of our hardest-working; our retired; our disabled; our least-well-off Londoners.
Whether it was his consultation, or questionable advertisements that he needed to be pulled up on, it’s become clear that Khan will stop at nothing to roll-out his Ulez tax-grab to Outer London.
This is despite opposition, from all sides; myself, my Conservative colleagues albeit in Parliament or City Hall, and in Council Chambers across London. We have all been vocal. Not just to oppose the measure, but to offer alternatives.
Alternatives that wouldn’t push the least-off for not being able to afford a greener way of life, but instead would go some way to encourage them to pursue one. Khan has spent millions of pounds on Ulez cameras to punish.
He didn’t spend those millions on electrifying the bus fleet, making taxis greener, or broadening the scrappage scheme. Let alone dealing with the actual dirty air breathed in by Londoners on the Underground. These are measures that would encourage people to live healthier, greener lifestyles.
But that’s not the Mayor of London’s MO. Why encourage when you can punish?
We’ve known all along that the money from non-compliance fines wouldn’t cover the cost of the installation of Ulez cameras. So, why?
Whatever the reason, it’ll just be one more battle in Sadiq Khan’s ongoing war on motorists.
