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.

Currently stretching to the North and South Circular roads, the expansion will mean most drivers of non-compliant vehicles in all of the capital’s 33 boroughs will be liable to pay a £12.50 daily charge from August 29.

The challenging councils claim the expansion should be treated as a new scheme, in terms of the approvals required, and that there was a lack of clarity in the consultation, particularly around a claim that 91% of vehicles would be copmpliant by the time the new zone starts.

The hearing continues today and a decision is expected in the coming weeks.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

Ahead of the court hearings, Sadiq Khan told LondonWorld: “One of the joys of democracy is if you’re a Conservative council and you’re unhappy with ULEZ you can take TfL to court.

“It’s for them to argue the case why they think ULEZ shouldn’t be expanded. TfL will be defending the case. We’ll have to see what the judges decide.

“I’m quite clear that for me clean air is a human right, not a privilege. Just like none of us would deem it acceptable to drink dirty water.

“I don’t think it should be acceptable to breathe dirty air that’s leading to thousands of premature deaths, children with stunted lungs, adults with a whole host of health issues from asthma, to cancer, to heart disease.

“The science is quite clear, the evidence is quite clear. I’m not willing to put my head in the sand and I’m hoping the courts agree with me.”