Sadiq Khan: Ulez expansion opponents are like smoking ban critics

Sadiq Khan has compared opponents of the Ulez scheme expansion to those who criticised the smoking ban.

The London Mayor, set to expand Ulez to all 32 boroughs in the capital August, said he would not delay its rollout despite growing criticism from councils and trade unions.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Khan said: “I compare those Conservatives opposing Ulez to those who opposed taking action against the tobacco companies and those that opposed banning smoking in public spaces.

“These same people, by the way, denied climate change 20 years ago and did want to take action because they denied it, and they now want to delay action against climate change.”

The comments come after opposition to Mr Khan’s Ulez expansion has grown in recent weeks. The charge will require vehicles that do not meet emissions standards to pay £12.50 to drive in outer London.

He faced a backlash at the weekend after it emerged that some patients may be exempt from paying Ulez while those working in the NHS would not be.

A consortium of four London boroughs, including Bromley and Hillingdon, are also considering legal action to block the Mayor’s plans.

But Mr Khan, who revealed that he is set to run for a third mayoral term, said it was only a “vocal minority” that was against Ulez.

Asked whether he saw it as a potential vote-loser for him, he said: “I appreciate there’s a vocal minority opposed out there, many of them funded by vested interests against these policies. But my job as the Mayor is to speak up on the solid majority that includes the 4,000 bereaved families every year because of toxic air.”

Mr Khan was speaking at the launch of his £110 million scrappage scheme, which will see Londoners who receive means-tested benefits and disability benefits able to apply for cash grants of up to £2,000 for their non-compliant vehicles.

London-based charities, sole traders and businesses with 10 or fewer employees can apply for grants of up to £5,000 to replace vans, and £7,000 for minibuses. An estimated 202,000 vehicles are estimated to be Ulez non-compliant, with 30,000 vans included in that figure.

Alongside the scrappage scheme announcement, Mr Khan also published a letter calling for politicians to support the Ulez expansion signed by under-18s who have been affected by conditions linked to toxic air.

Responding to Mr Khan’s comments, Nick Rogers, the GLA Conservative transport spokesman, said it was a “desperate escalation of rhetoric from a Mayor under pressure” after “shamelessly ignoring the majority of Londoners”.

He added: “If he genuinely cared about reducing air pollution, he would take the hundreds of millions he plans to spend on tax cameras and invest it in policies that will actually clean up the air.”