Tory MP Gareth Johnson is challenging London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion after it generated £5.3 million in its first week. The Mail has more.
Kent MP Gareth Johnson is to try to get the Greater London Low Emission Zone Charging (Amendment) Bill into law to reverse what he said was an “unfair stealth tax” on his constituents.
The Dartford Conservative is targeting August’s expansion of Ulez to all 32 boroughs, which means everyone travelling within and into Great London in a non-compliant vehicle has to pay £12.50 every day.
It comes as data shows that the expansion from inner London netted almost 300,000 extra drivers who were charged in the first week it was in operation. More than 425,000 Ulez charges were paid in the week following the extension, compared to just 140,000 the week before.
Mr. Johnson said: “This is an unfair stealth tax on the people of Dartford and across the South East, hitting the poorest the hardest. The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan has no mandate for this.
“Expanding Ulez was not in his manifesto or in his transport strategy, and the consultation on the expansion showed that people did not want it. It impacts people in Kent and other counties around London who cannot vote in or out the London Mayor. It is taxation without accountability.
“It punishes those on lower incomes who can least afford to buy a newer car to avoid the daily charge. There are also no guarantees the standard for meeting the Ulez threshold will not be changed in the future to include more vehicles.
“My proposed bill is to overturn the Ulez expansion and ensure the London Mayor cannot impose this unfair tax on the people of Dartford and beyond.”
Mr. Johnson will table the new law as a Private Member’s Bill, which is unlikely to succeed unless it attracts Government backing. …
Research by car marketplace Motorway previously showed that 16% of Londoners, or around 714,000 people, own a vehicle that is not compliant with the Ulez restrictions.
Motorway co-founder Alex Buttle told the Times: “With the continued cost of living crisis and the recent expansion of London’s Ulez, more drivers who use the zone are questioning their driving habits.”
Worth reading in full.
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That’s a quarter of a billion pounds a year if it continues at current rates. You can plant a lot of trees with that money. As older vehicles gradually drop out of circulation, the revenue will drop and they will extend the ULEZ to newer vehicles, increase the charges, remove exemptions, bring in other new taxes on motorists and whoever else they can get away with taxing, to shore up their revenues, because they probably already need the money to shore up the budget.
Dropping like flies…..council’s are bust..
I’m not entirely sure what the consequences are when these councils declare bankruptcy..
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/dozens-more-councils-learn-need-8950147
I wouldn’t fancy my chances if they owed me money, that’s for sure.
I’m owed a Council Tax rebate from Somerset Council. They were notified of the new Council Tax payee in mid September and they sent a letter a month later to confirm the amount I was due. It will then be AT LEAST 12 weeks before I get my money “because there’s a queue system and that’s how long it takes.”
So, if I’m lucky I’ll get MY money repaid about 4 months after I notified the Council. That’s 4 months of interest-free borrowing …. because “it isn’t their policy to pay interest.”
Inefficiency combined with desperation to preserve cashflow I guess
Leeds City Council spent a fortune putting metal posts in the ground to hold signs saying things like
“These steps are less than 2m wide, so it may not be possible to retain your social distance. Please use these stairs in turn.”
And still people wonder why the councils are bankrupt. Must be Putin or something.
“Don’t run with scissors”
I’m nearly 63 and I’ve never been in a position where running holding scissors might have made sense.
The local council overspends are deliberate and much of the wasted money goes on grotesque pension liabilities to Executive teams – the Director class. Beyond this there is simply obscene waste spending where it is not required.
Oldham Counci for example have peppered the Borough with signs declaring “I love Oldham,” or Wards thereof. What the hell for?
Taxis cost £150k a month to companies not in the Borough – WTF?
Once councils are declared bust they are at the mercy of central government AND their overlords, the DD’s.
All coming together nicely.
I reckon they’d have taken a lot more if not for the Blade Runners and those who told Sadick where to stick his little fines.
Hypocrite Sadiq Khans 430 000 Airmiles
leaflet to print at home and deliver to neighbours or forward to politicians, media, friends online.
Despite taking the greatest care not to intrude upon the cleanliness of ULEZ while attending the funeral of a much-loved cousin a couple of weeks ago I received an impertinent demand for £90.00 for daring to cross some arbitrary line while transporting some tearful relatives to the wake (which was joyful and entirely fitting for a full life cut short). Of course I will pay the demand for some imagined increase to the CO2 levels in outer London, but I would point out that as a contractor to TfL I will be inflating a recent invoice by £100 and donating the excess to Care After Combat.
Excellent 👍
I would think that most people here are standing and saluting you right now.
RAF now directly involved in the war in the middle east.
“when push comes to shove our governments are perfectly happy to slaughter Muslims abroad in the interests of the Empire, in the interests of the sentinel of the Empire, otherwise know as the State of Israel..”
You lot of war mongering pro government and msm worshipers really should listen to Galloway..
He would shatter you delusion in no time at all…
Can’t disrupt all your middle class pension funds though can we now…… Few more wars suit you down to the ground…
https://youtu.be/b24msUspyvI?si=8X0Zf8GHiH8hTu8Y
Galloway is an actor who gets a handsome stipend for his every role.
Yes, a clever chap, a charismatic speaker, full of what my mother used to call “SH one T”.