Sadiq Khan blasted by Tory London mayoral candidate after Ulez gets court backing - ‘Absolute disgrace!’
Susan Hall labelled Sadiq Khan's plans an 'absolute disgrace'
GB News / PA
The Conservative candidate for London Mayor has heaped pressure on Sadiq Khan over his controversial Ulez (Ultra low emission zone) plot.
The scheme sees all non-Ulez compliant vehicles accrue a daily charge for driving inside the zone, and is set to undergo major changes in London as it branches out to all of its boroughs in August, having previously been restricted to central areas of the British capital.
Opposition to the radical new plans suffered a significant blow today after they were deemed legal by the High Court.
Susan Hall, who will represent the Conservative Party at the next London Mayoral election in 2024, has taken aim at the incumbent mayor, accusing him of using the expansion to serve as a shameless “cash grab”.
“I’m obviously very disappointed, as will be hundreds of thousands of Londoners”, she told GB News.
“They don’t want this. They made it clear to Sadiq Khan that they don’t want this, but he’s going ahead with it.”
Hall, a vocal critic of the London Mayor, said TfL (Transport for London) are set for a hefty windfall as a result of the charge.
She told Mark Longhurst and Pip Thomson: “It won’t make any difference at all. They know it’s nothing but a tax grab.
“I asked the TfL commissioner how much they expect to make out of this in a year, and it was £200 million.
“That’s £200 million of the backs of hardworking Londoners, and businesses and charities.”
Sadiq Khan has been been the Mayor of London since 2016PAIt comes after the outer London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon along with Surrey County Council failed in their legal action against Khan’s plan to expand Ulez.
Khan praised the judgment, labelling it a “landmark decision” as he committed to pressing ahead with the planned expansion date of August 29.
He said: “The decision to expand the Ulez was very difficult and not something I took lightly, and I continue to do everything possible to address any concerns Londoners may have.”
The Tory London Mayoral hopeful continued to make her frustrations clear at the ruling during a fiery interview on GB News, arguing that it will hit the poorest Londoners the hardest.
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“Ulez expansion is nothing but a tax on the poorest in our society”, she said.
“If you’re going to bring this in, at least leave it for a while. The cost of living crisis has been very difficult for people.
“People are so frightened and they don’t know how they’re going to pay for this. Politicians should not impose these taxes when people are suffering greatly.
“I think it’s an absolute disgrace. He knows nobody wants it.”
Friday’s ruling comes in the wake of last week’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip parliamentary by-election, where Labour’s failure to win ex-prime minister Boris Johnson’s seat was blamed on concerns around the expansion of Ulez.
From Monday, access to the mayor’s £110 million scrappage scheme will be extended to include all families in receipt of child benefit in London and every small business in the capital if they have a non-compliant vehicle.
At the end of last month some £68 million remained available through the programme.