Clean air is “a right not a privilege”, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said as the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) was expanded to include the outer boroughs of London.
People who drive in the zone in a vehicle that does not meet minimum emissions standards are required to pay a £12.50 daily fee or risk a £180 fine, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.
Appearing on several media outlets on Tuesday to defend the rollout, Khan said he believed clean air was a “right not a privilege”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “We now have a really effective policy to reduce air pollution. It’s shown to be effective in central London and inner London, but I think clean air is a right not a privilege. What about outer London? Why shouldn’t they breathe clean air? Why should they carry on dying prematurely in numbers that could be reversed?”
Khan told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was a “difficult decision” to expand the zone, but a vital one, explaining that in London 4,000 premature deaths a year were linked directly to air pollution.
He said the policy was proven to be effective in central London, where it had led to a 50% reduction in the main air pollutants and a third fewer children being admitted to hospital with air-pollution-related illnesses, while the further expansion to inner London resulted in a reduction of 21% of the main pollutants.
The mayor told Times Radio that nine out of 10 cars driving in outer London were already compliant and would not be subject to any of the new fees. “The policy to clean the air in London is not anti-car or anti-motorist,” he said.
He also revealed that Transport for London (TfL) had received more than 15,000 applications for its Ulez scrappage scheme in the past week. He said: “I’d encourage your viewers, check whether your vehicle is compliant. It probably is. If it’s not, apply for support.”
The government has continued to criticise the scheme, despite showing previous support. In May 2020, the then transport secretary, Grant Shapps, wrote to Khan asking him to “urgently bring forward proposals to widen the scope and levels of” the congestion charge.
However, the current transport secretary, Mark Harper, said he would stop the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) if he had the power to do so. Asked if he would halt the expansion, Harper told GB News: “Yes. I don’t have the power, though.”
The Ulez expansion has been blamed for Labour’s failure to win last month’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection.
To comply with Ulez standards, petrol cars must generally have been first registered after 2005, while most diesel cars registered after September 2015 are also exempt from the charge.
A government spokesperson said: “Both transport and air quality are devolved to London, which is why they are the direct responsibility of the mayor of London. In fact, the government has provided TfL £6bn since 2020 to keep public transport moving and almost £102m for projects specifically targeted to help tackle air pollution.”
