Could the ULEZ be expanded beyond the capital?
Ever since the Mayor of London announced his intention to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone to cover all the boroughs of London, the decision has proved controversial – but could the zone be extended outside of the capital?
Although the Mayor described the move as an ‘incredibly difficult decision’, he explained that toxic air is damaging the health of Londoners.
Here is what you need to know.
Mr Khan also cited the need to tackle the climate crisis, ultimately justifying the decision by stating ‘the cost of inaction would simply be far too high a price to pay’.
When the expansion comes into effect on August 29, 2023, anyone driving a non-compliant vehicle within the ULEZ zone will be required to pay a fee of £12.50 a day.
With the expansion now just weeks away, could the ULEZ scheme be expanded outside of London?
Could ULEZ be expanded outside of London?
At the moment, an expansion of ULEZ outside of London seems unlikely.
This is mainly down to the political atmosphere surrounding the current expansion.
ULEZ recently hit the headlines again after a byelection for former prime minister Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Many of those involved in campaigning on the ground cited the clean air scheme’s expansion as the reason Labour failed to take the seat, despite the party enjoying a comfortable lead in the polls nationally.
Labour candidate Danny Beales (L) was defeated by Steve Tuckwell (R) in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. (Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
After his victory, the new Tory MP, Steve Tuckwell, told reporters: ‘My campaign has been incredibly single-minded, and it’s really been in complete opposition to ULEZ from the outset.
‘That’s not me saying that, it’s not me that called the referendum on ULEZ. It is the people of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.’
After the result, shadow justice secretary Steve Reed (MP for Croydon North) also blamed the scheme, saying: ‘I think the winning Conservative candidate just said it, didn’t he? He said that if it wasn’t for Ulez, he believes Labour would have won this byelection.
‘Clearly, it did resonate with a lot of people. They didn’t like the fact that ULEZ was going to cost people more to drive around at a time when there’s a cost-of-living crisis going on.’
However, it is worth noting that Labour still cut the Conservative majority in Uxbridge by a substantial margin at the last election.
In 2010, the Tory party retained the seat with a majority of 11,216 votes, and, except for the 2019 General Election, that has been trending down ever since.
Though Steve Tuckwell won the seat this year, he did so with a majority of just 495 votes.
However, since the result, the alleged issues surrounding ULEZ have fed up to a national level, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer saying the party must be doing something ‘very wrong’ over the Ulez expansion in a speech at the national policy forum, according to The Guardian.
The Telegraph now reports that Mr Starmer ‘has scrapped Labour’s commitment to rolling out clean air zones across the country’ in an apparent break from the party’s National Policy Forum (NPF) document, which the Telegraph noted contained a statement affirming support for the zones.
The Conservative party also opposes ULEZ expansion, even launching a petition against its implementation, despite ULEZ being initially introduced by none other than former London Mayor Boris Johnson.
So, with neither of the two major parties likely to form a government looking to implement ULEZ-style schemes at a national level, it seems unlikely that any national ULEZ policy will become legislation.
That said, several clean air zones and ULEZ-style policies have been introduced at a local level, either by regional councils or mayors. Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Portsmouth, and Sheffield are all towns and cities with clean air zone policies.
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Will other areas see a ULEZ?