ULEZ: Labour Uxbridge candidate Danny Beales clashes with Sadiq Khan over emission zone expansion

Even as Sadiq Khan’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion is being challenged in the High Court, it has come under attack from a Labour ally.

Danny Beales, the party’s candidate for the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, told a hustings event that it is “not the right time” for the expansion, which will see most motorists facing a fine from the end of August if their vehicles do not meet emissions standards.

A campaign spokesperson said the candidate believes the expansion should be delayed until a “properly funded” scrappage scheme is in place. They referenced additional funding provided for such schemes in cities such as Birmingham.

The current scheme sees City Hall paying motorists and businesses for older vehicles to be replaced, but it has faced criticism over its scope and timing.

Mr Beales has written to the Government and to City Hall about funding for the scrappage scheme, although the campaign is not releasing the letters.

He told Sky News' political correspondent Rob Powell: “What I've been saying - despite perhaps what's been reported in some various pieces of political literature - is it's not the right time to extend the ULEZ scheme in outer London. It's just not.

"I think when you speak to families, I hear heart-wrenching stories at the moment: carers who have to travel to work and can't afford to pay for their car and may have to give up their job or they can't afford to scrap their car with the scrappage scheme available.

"Of course we want clean air, of course we all do... But to do it now, when mortgages are going up £500, £600, £700 a month because the Tories have crashed the economy, when fuel bills and food bills come up exponentially..."

Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election

The comments will not have come as a complete surprise to Sadiq Khan. Danny Beales, currently a Camden Council cabinet member, is hoping to overturn a Tory majority - and the expansion of ULEZ impacts the constituency.

The by-election on July 20 follows the resignation of former prime minister Boris Johnson, who was found to have lied to Parliament over the Partygate scandal.

In 2019, Boris Johnson won 25,351 votes against 18,141 for Labour’s Ali Milani. A total of 17 candidates are standing in this month’s by-election.

Sky News reports that Tory candidate Steve Tuckwell said last night that Mr Beales had “backed ULEZ expansion to our borough for years from the comfort of his central London council chamber”.

“Now it’s losing him support on the doorstep, he’s trying to trick people into thinking he wants it delayed,” he said. “Local people don’t want a delay, they want it scrapped.”

ULEZ in the High Court

Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ lacks the legal basis to expand to outer London and involved an “unintelligible” consultation, the High Court was told on Tuesday (July 4).

The mayor’s planned expansion of the zone to outer London faced its first day in court, as five Conservative councils - Hillingdon, Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Surrey - attempt to halt it.