Keir’s U-turn on ULEZ
Labour leader blamed levy for by-election ruin – now he hails it
SIR Keir Starmer has been accused of performing yet another U-turn, this time on his view of Sadiq Khan’s tax on polluting cars.
Labour’s leader had previously blamed the London mayor’s expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) for a by- election defeat and said he was looking for an alternative scheme. But yesterday he appeared to have changed tack as he lavished praise on Mr Khan’s achievements including on the environment, at the launch of his campaign for a third term running the capital.
Sir Keir said: ‘I say to people who challenge me on cleaner air - I’ve got two kids.
‘They’re 15 and 13. I wouldn’t give them dirty water to drink
and I wouldn’t want them to breathe in dirty air.’ Mr Khan himself said the extension of the Ulez scheme – which imposes a daily £12.50 charge on anyone driving a vehicle in London that does not meet emission standards and happened last year – had been a success. ‘When we first planned to bring it in, in central London, there were people who were hostile and anti. It came in and the sky didn’t collapse.
‘We then expanded it to inner London, lots of complaints and concerns and by the way the Tories have been consistent in opposing it at all levels, the sky didn’t fall in.
‘We then expanded it to outer London and here’s the great news – 19 out of 20 cars seen travelling on an average day are compliant... they don’t pay a penny more,’ he told reporters. Last night Tory MP Steve Tuckwell said: ‘After my Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election victory, Keir Starmer and the Shadow Cabinet claimed Labour only lost because of the Labour mayor of London’s Ulez policy.
‘A few months later – we see another flip-flop from Keir Starmer, praising Sadiq Khan’s Ulez policy, saying he wouldn’t want his children to breathe dirty air.’
He insisted: ‘We can get cleaner air without tax- grabbing our hard-working Londoners.’
Sir Keir said after the Uxbridge by- election last July: ‘Ulez was the reason we didn’t win there yesterday. We know that. We heard that on the doors. And we’ve all got to reflect on that, including the mayor.’
However, Mr Khan is widely expected to win the mayoral election against the Conservatives’ Susan Hall in May.
Tory peer and pollster Lord Hayward said yesterday: ‘ It shouldn’t be the closest ever – if it is close, it would be astonishing and it would be a major victory for the Tory party. Under a Conservative government, it would be normal to view London as a “Labour city”; under a Labour national government those circumstances might change.’