'Absolute disgrace!' Sadiq Khan torn apart by Londoners in furious grilling over Ulez 'lies'
Sadiq Khan was criticised by Londoners at Peoples' Question Time on Thursday, with one accusing him of telling "lies" about the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) expansion.
In a furious rant directed at the London Mayor, one audience member claimed Ulez is "closing" London.
Dismissing Ulez as "appalling", she claimed it was a ploy to "replenish Transport for London's (TfL) budget".
But Khan said he has put in "big changes" to support Londoners with non-compliant cars, including putting more money towards the scrappage scheme, which provides financial assistance to help eligible London residents scrap vehicles that don't meet the Ulez emissions standards.
WATCH: London 'in gridlock' says People's Question Time Audience member
She said: "I have a friend who is going to see his disabled sister every weekend out of London in his non-compliant car. It's now costing him £1,300 per year to go and see and help her.
"It's costing other people lots and lots of money as well. You say London is open, but your policies are closing it more and more every day.
"I believe Ulez is actually replenishing TfL's budget. I don't believe the lies."
She added: "So is it really about making money for TfL and Mr Khan - all the millions you're making from poor people like me, I have an old car.
"What are you going to spend this money on?"
Khan responded: "So in relation to the support for those who've got non-compliant cars, we've made progress since the last people's questions - which is now every single family in London is eligible for support through the scrappage scheme.
"Every single business is now eligible for support. Small businesses, every single charity, is now eligible for support.
"Those who are disabled are eligible for a grace period.
"Those are the big changes we've made. We've put in more money for the scrappage scheme."
Another audience member asked: "You say 'getting London moving'. How does the extreme TfL Ulez charges throughout the expansion of the London outer area actually help achieve that, because many people are going to go out of business, they're going to go bust.
"London is not moving. London is snelled up in gridlock."
Responding, the Mayor said: "Look, one month after the ULEZ expanded to outer London - so all 9 million Londoners are breathing cleaner air - TfL did a one-month report, as they did after the central London Ulez, and as they did after they did the inner London Ulez.
"And the great news is we've gone from a position where in 2017 at the launch of the precursor to Ulez where only 39 per cent of vehicles were compliant to in May 2022 When the consultation began for outer London - 85 per cent of vehicles were compliant.
"To now one month on and 95 per cent of vehicles being compliant. 77,000 fewer non-compliant and only 50,000 vehicles overall."
Susan Hall, the London Mayoral candidate for the Conservative Party, also weighed in on the debate, dismissing the expansion of Ulez as an "absolute disgrace".
She said: "I have to tell you I think the Ulez exhibition is an absolute disgrace.
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Khan defended the expansion, which rolled out to the whole of outer London earlier this year, saying: 'Nobody put up with dirty water, we shouldn't put up with dirty air'
PA
"This man who does nothing but complain about the government all the time, just let me tell you, he has a £21billion budget. And in the last two months he's made £52million off the back of the poorest of Londoners on the Ulez expansion costs."
But Khan defended the expansion, which rolled out to the whole of outer London earlier this year, saying: "More than half of Londoners with asthma live in outer London.
"Twenty-four of the 30 GPS with the largest number of asthma patients are all in outer London.
"Nobody put up with dirty water, we shouldn't put up with dirty air."