British politicians consider scrapping climate mandate after election loss
Politicians in the UK’s Left-wing Labour Party are considering “taking another look” at a climate mandate which reportedly caused a recent election loss for the party.
Labour candidates narrowly lost to Right-leaning Tory Party members in two special elections last week despite expectations of a decisive Labour victory. Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where the elections were held, are boroughs in Outer London where car dependency is high. But residents are nevertheless facing restrictions on car travel to “fight climate change”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has promised to expand London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zones (ULEZ), areas in London only accessible to low-emission vehicles. Cars that do not meet the city’s environmental standards are charged £12.50 ($16) for entering the ULEZ. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras positioned around the zones read license plates and check them against the vehicles’ make and model in real time. If a vehicle does not meet the environmental threshold, the fine is levied against the car owner. Failure to pay can lead to fines as high as £258 ($331).
Nearly half of London’s residents — over four million people — now live in ULEZs, which cover the North and South Circular Roads. By August 29th of this year, the ULEZ will expand to encompass all London boroughs, including Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer blamed the ULEZ mandate for the party’s failure to win the municipal seats.
“Ulez was the reason we didn’t win there yesterday,” Starmer told journalists. “We know that. We heard that on the doors. And we’ve all got to reflect on that, including the mayor.”
Another senior Labour source informed British media that “[i]t’s clear Sadiq is going to be reviewing [ULEZ].”
Starmer and Khan’s team are expected to hold “intensive discussions” over the climate mandate in the coming weeks, reports the Daily Mail.
“There’s lots of speculation that Labour will be forced to drop Ulez after a year of ignoring and insulting thousands of people with genuine concerns,” said Tory MP Louie French.
According to a senior Labour Party insider, the ULEZ scheme is destined to fail.
“There is no way Ulez [expansion] is going to survive, even if we had won Uxbridge. Sadiq just isn’t listening on Ulez and we’ve paid the price for that. Natural Labour voters are unable to vote for us because of it. We have been telling [City Hall] for ages they need to ditch it,” he said.
Despite media polls reportedly showing “strong support” among Londoners for ULEZ restrictions, their actions suggest otherwise. At least 31 incidents of vandalism of ULEZ cameras have been reported in proposed expansion zones since March 21st, and at least 12 in current zones.
“This is our country and we’re taking it back,” said one man last month who posted a video showing dozens of cameras he had removed.
London drivers are also bucking hundreds of thousands of pounds in ULEZ fines in what is being described as a “revolt” against Khan’s climate mandates. In the last fiscal year alone, £255,545,388 ($324,462,146) in climate penalties remained outstanding. Between 2021 and 2022, Transport for London (TfL) failed to collect £120,123,660 ($152,519,209). Only about £73 million ($92,687,000) in penalties were collected.
“The phenomenal rise in the last two or three years in the amounts wilfully not paid, and the sheer numbers of drivers who must have made a conscious decision to no longer be ripped off by Sadiq Khan, makes any rational person realise that these numbers show a large number of drivers revolting on the Ulez scheme and refusing to pay,” said MP Karl McCartney.
McCartney called the penalties “an unjust tax” and predicted Khan “will pay the price at the ballot box”.
Over 300 ULEZ cameras have been installed so far, and Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to install 2,750 more around outer London.
The ANPR cameras, according to Transport for London (TfL), also monitor traffic and serve as security cameras for law enforcement to “prevent and detect crime”.
