Much has been made of the London Mayor’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), as a way forward to improve the capital’s air quality. However, the new tax is seen by many as unscientific and unjust.
Essentially, ULEZ represents a regressive ‘pay to pollute’ methodology, with an unfairly large effect on the least wealthy, and no effect on those who can afford to pay the ULEZ tax and carry on using their vehicles.
Proof London’s ULEZ may not be working to improve air quality is described in depth later in this blog.
Shaun Bailey, the Tory London mayoral candidate for 2020, said: “London’s air quality needs to improve, but Mr Khan’s rush to implement the first wave of his ULEZ in April over the complaints of small businesses and hard pressed motorists makes it look like a cash grab to cover for his awful mismanagement of the TfL budget.”
The Mayor of London has, through his anti-car policies, unilaterally devalued the UK’s diesel fleet by £35billion. He has made millions of vehicles virtually unsaleable. Source CEBR.
Many vehicles are being unfairly targeted and penalised too.
New big-engine high polluters are not being subject to this modified toxic charge, whilst a small older fuel-efficient motorbike such as a 90cc Honda is subject to a punitive payment. How can that be judged as fair?
Mr Khan has also chosen to dismiss the low-cost existing approaches, some of which are described later in this report.
These have been proven to improve air quality considerably more effectively than his current assault on older vehicles, which only serves to tax low income drivers, families and small businesses.
Will ULEZs improve Air Quality?
71,098 from across UK Regions, answered this question in FairFuelUK 2018 – 2019 Surveys’.
Here are the results
Sadly, many other local authorities are planning to follow London’s lead without investigating alternative solutions that are proven to reduce emissions immediately.
And that is where FairFuelUK with the APPG can help, working closely with Government to achieve the goal of reducing harmful emissions, at the same time improving fuel consumption for all vehicles. The latter alone will reduce CO2 emissions and other gases and particulate matter.
Wherever anyone stands on climate change and local pollution, there are effective proven products available now, which improve things instantly – and by instantly we don’t mean in months or weeks, but in seconds.