This week, the mask slipped on Sadiq Khan’s campaign when a top ally of the Mayor admitted that his pay-per-mile plans were only on hold "for now".
Potentially meaning between now, and the election, in May.
So, let’s look at some of the models that Sadiq Khan has considered bringing in.
Imagine having to install a device in your car that spies on you, takeIn Singapore, drivers have to buy an ‘in vehicle unit’ (IU) for approximately 158 Singapore dollars to install in their cars. They are charged every time they drive through an ‘Electronic Road Pricing’ gantry, with the fee varying depending on how much traffic there is.
Susan Hall: 'This week, the mask slipped on Sadiq Khan’s campaign when a top ally of the Mayor admitted that his pay-per-mile plans were only on hold "for now"'
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If Sadiq Khan brings that technology to London, we would find ourselves in an Orwellian nightmare.
Every single driver, whether you live in London or not, would have to buy a Sadiq Box, load in your credit card information, and let Sadiq charge you whatever he wants.
It doesn’t matter if you’re struggling for rent, or if you’re driving to take a loved one to hospital. The Sadiq Box will take what Sadiq feels he’s owed.And that is only one potential option.s your money and gives it to Sadiq Khan?
A little ‘Sadiq Box’, tracking how many miles you drive, keeping tabs on what kind of car you’re driving, and reporting on what the traffic is like. All so it can debit an arbitrary and extortionate fee from your account.
You would have to pay for the Sadiq Box, of course. Roughly £100.
That is some of the technology that Sadiq Khan has been exploring, as part of his plans to bring in a pay-per-mile tax.
What I have described to you is the Singapore-style pay-per-mile system, which Sadiq Khan has openly said is the ‘nearest comparator’ to his planned system.
Sadiq Khan's team has previously ruled out introducing pay-per-mile in London, accusing Susan Hall of spreading "misinformation" around the issue.
PA
In Singapore, drivers have to buy an ‘in vehicle unit’ (IU) for approximately 158 Singapore dollars to install in their cars. They are charged every time they drive through an ‘Electronic Road Pricing’ gantry, with the fee varying depending on how much traffic there is.
If Sadiq Khan brings that technology to London, we would find ourselves in an Orwellian nightmare.
Every single driver, whether you live in London or not, would have to buy a Sadiq Box, load in your credit card information, and let Sadiq charge you whatever he wants.
It doesn’t matter if you’re struggling for rent, or if you’re driving to take a loved one to hospital. The Sadiq Box will take what Sadiq feels he’s owed.And that is only one potential option.
The other, perhaps more feasible option, is him using the extensive network of ULEZ cameras to spy on your car and track how many miles you’ve driven, removing the need for the Sadiq Box.
This would make sense, given his obsession with getting as many ULEZ cameras installed as possible, and getting them guarded by masked thugs, despite the extensive opposition from local Londoners.But it would also result in people who have never driven in London being wrongly charged as well.
We have seen countless of examples of ULEZ cameras reading the wrong number plate and sending the bill to the wrong person.
And when people try to appeal a wrong payment, Sadiq Khan has set up a horrid nightmare that makes it as difficult as possible to get your money back.
Because that’s what Sadiq Khan’s pay-per-mile is all about.
He wants to decide how much you should pay him and make it as difficult as possible for you to resist, by making the charges as complicated as possible and using spy technology to enforce it.
He won’t listen to Londoners. He will never change.
But I am listening.
And with your vote on May 2nd, I will scrap the ULEZ expansion and his pay-per-mile plans on day one.
Susan Hall is the Conservative Mayoral candidate for London.
Sadiq Khan's team has previously ruled out introducing pay-per-mile in London, accusing Susan Hall of spreading "misinformation" around the issue.
A spokesman for the Mayor previously said: "This is absolute nonsense from a Tory party desperate to distract from their 14 years of failure, and is categorically untrue.
"Sadiq has definitively ruled out pay-per-mile. Pay-per-mile was first proposed in Boris Johnson's transport strategy when he was mayor."
