Labour’s candidate for the Uxbridge byelection has spoken out against Sadiq Khan’s planned expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme to all of London.
Danny Beales said the cost of living crisis meant it was not the right time to extend the charge on drivers – aimed at tackling air pollution – to outer London as planned this August.
Sir Keir Starmer’s candidate said he had listened to “heart-wrenching stories” from motorists who would not be able to afford to upgrade their vehicles or pay the £12.50-a-day charge.
Ms Beales – chosen to fight the Tories in the Uxbridge seat vacated by Boris Johnson – revealed his opposition to the Labour mayor’s flagship scheme at a debate on Tuesday night.
“It’s not the right time to extend the Ulez scheme to outer London – it’s just not,” he said.
“I’ve spoken out about this issue,” Mr Beales said on the Labour spilt. “I have had hundreds of conversations on the doorstep and that’s the message I give. Community first, party second.”
Mr Khan has defended plans to expand the scheme from inner to outer London as the best way to tackle emissions.
He has argued that an estimated 4,000 Londoners die prematurely each year from conditions related to air pollution. “There are children in our city with stunted lungs, permanently, because of air pollution,” said the mayor last week.
But the mayor is facing a High Court challenged from the outer-London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon, along with Surrey County Council, over the proposed extension of Ulez beyond the North and South Circular roads.
Keir Starmer (centre), shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and Danny Beales
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Keir Starmer (centre), shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and Danny Beales
The court heard from the council’s lawyers on Tuesday that City Hall does not have the legal powers to expand Ulez, since it will soon reach areas outside of London, including Kent and Surrey.
Motorists can avoid the charge by making sure their vehicle meets the minimum emissions standards. For petrol cars that means those generally first registered after 2005.
Mr Beales said he could not support the Ulez expansion until the government and the mayor’s office go “much further” with support for struggling families and a £110m scrappage scheme.
“They can’t afford a new car. So for them it’s do I retire early, do I give up my job? Do I not go and visit my family? These are the decisions people are making,” the Labour candidate told the Evening Standard.
He said residents were “all in favour of good-quality air, but it needs to be done in a way that doesn’t impact working people in the way that the current proposals do without a proper scrappage scheme”.
The mayor’s office launched a scrappage scheme in January to support London based small businesses, charities and Londoners on lower incomes to replace their vehicles.
Labour are favourites to take Mr Johnson’s seat, but Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell has attempted to make the July 20 byelection “a referendum” on Mr Khan’s Ulez scheme.
The Tories by-election campaign leaflet were branded “frankly embarrassing” for failing to mention the party or Mr Johnson who previously held the seat.
