I can’t wear my watch in London because of mayor, says Pietersen Khan spends £3 million on pay-per-mile research

Mayor wants to ‘hammer drivers with extra charges when Ulez cash runs dry’, says Tory rival in election

SADIQ KHAN spent £3 million of taxpayers’ money planning a pay-per-mile road charging system amid fears he could bring the scheme in if he is re-elected as London’s mayor.

Transport officials worked on a driver charging project as recently as January, even though Mr Khan has denied he will bring in pay-per-mile taxes, a freedom of information (FOI) request reveals.

Codenamed Future RUC, the project could replace current road charges with “sophisticated technology” that bills motorists for driving in the capital.

Future RUC was created to “explore the potential for a ‘smart road user charging’ scheme”, according to Transport for London (TFL) documents revealed under FOI laws. It could eventually replace charges such as the low emission zone (Lez), ultra low emission zone (Ulez) and the congestion charge.

Drivers of older and more polluting vehicles must pay £12.50 a day to drive in London under the Ulez rules, on top of the £15-a-day congestion charge.

The revelation comes after research by satellite navigation company Tomtom found traffic congestion in the capital has increased since Ulez was introduced, with London now the world’s slowest city to drive through.

Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate seeking to deny Mr Khan an unprecedented third term as mayor in the May 2 election, accused him of plotting to “hammer” drivers after the election with new pay-per-mile road taxes.

“It is outrageous that he has splurged £3 million building a prototype to tax drivers by the mile and now expects us to believe he won’t use it,” said Ms Hall. “Sadiq won’t listen, which is why he plans to bring in pay per mile, so he can hammer drivers as soon as his Ulez cash runs dry.”

Ms Hall added: “I am listening to Londoners. I will scrap the Ulez expansion on day one and chuck Sadiq Khan’s payper-mile prototype in the bin.”

Polling earlier this month put Mr Khan around 18 points ahead.

In 2022, Mr Khan said he was pushing TFL to start planning for pay-permile charging. Following a heated public backlash, he U-turned on the plans last year.

Conservatives at City Hall believe his promises not to introduce pay-per-mile charging are insincere.

Three key TFL contracts for the technology and staff powering London’s three driver charging schemes expire in September 2026.

City Hall Tories claim that Future RUC is not only paving the way to replace those schemes, as Labour sources insist, but is meant to usher in pay-per-mile taxes at the same time.

Pay-per-mile taxes are controversial because they disproportionately hit Londoners who need to drive long distances every day. Those affected include people commuting to the outer reaches of the capital and those who rely on driving for their jobs, such as builders and other tradesmen.

Although the Future RUC scheme has now closed according to TFL, its existence as recently as January calls into question Mr Khan’s previous denials that he intends to bring in pay-per-mile road use taxes.

He told the London Assembly in September 2023: “As long as I am mayor, we’re not going to have pay-per-mile.”

A spokesman for Mr Khan’s mayoral election campaign said: “Sadiq has repeatedly and categorically ruled out pay-per-mile for as long as he is mayor.

“It will not be introduced in London, despite misleading statements from the Tories saying otherwise.”

KEVIN PIETERSEN has criticised the London Mayor by claiming he has removed his watch and wedding ring for a visit to the capital and sarcastically thanking Sadiq Khan in an online post.

The former England cricketer appeared to reference crime levels in the city as he revealed he had swapped his gold band for a plastic ring.

Pietersen, 43, has become an outspoken critic of Mr Khan in recent months and last month called London “an absolute disgrace of a place”. Yesterday, he posted a photograph of his left hand on social media, saying: “Gotta go into London today. NO WATCH and a plastic ring! Congrats, Sadiq Khan!”

Mr Khan has been accused of losing control of crime in London as he pursues an third term in office, having first been elected eight years ago in 2016.

Susan Hall, his Tory opponent in May’s mayoral election, released figures earlier this week showing thefts and robberies involving a knife have almost doubled in London under his leadership.

The statistics show that “theft from person” has increased by 96 per cent since Mr Khan took office, from 33,983 incidents in the year ending March 2016 to 66,649 in the year ending September 2023.

During the same period, robberies involving a knife have risen by 97 per cent, with 4,215 incidents in the year ending March 2016, rising to 8,307 in the year ending September 2023.

Shoplifting has also increased, with 43,755 incidents recorded in 2016 compared to 52,436 in 2023. Pietersen lives in Surrey and also has homes in South Africa, where he was born.

On March 28, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “London was once the most amazing city. It’s an absolute disgrace of a place.

“You cannot wear a watch of any value. You cannot walk around with your phone in your hand. Women get their bags and jewellery ripped off them. Cars get smashed in for a quick smash and grab.”

The Mayor’s office was contacted for comment.