Labour plot for Ulez zones across Britain

LABOUR could introduce Ulez- equivalent ‘clean air zones’ across the country if it wins the next election.

The party is now considering whether to back the policy, which has already been implemented in a number of Labour-led councils.

A policy document drafted by Labour includes a proposal supporting a ‘Clean Air Zone Principle’ in major urban areas if it is ‘phased in carefully’ and ‘accompanied with a just transition plan’.

Under the proposed move, vehicles which exceed emission standards will have to pay a levy for driving in a designated zone.

But campaigners have warned the proposals would ‘demonise’ motorists and will prove wildly unpopular with voters.

There are fears that the policy will have the same projected impact as London mayor Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion in the capital. Last night a Conservative spokesman said: ‘Sadiq Khan’s cash grab Ulez expansion is deeply unpopular. It will hit the poorest Londoners hardest, devastating families and firms who cannot afford to upgrade their vehicles.

‘Labour need to rule out these unpopular moves on hard-working residents of our great cities.’

And Samuel Kasumu, the Tory London mayoral candidate frontrunner, added: ‘It is clear that the demonising of car drivers runs through the whole of the Labour party. however, Sadiq Khan is the worst of them all. his proposed Ulez expansion has neither been “phased in carefully” or done with a “just transition” in place. We will continue to fight against it.’

As well as London, clean air zones are currently enforced in some Labour- led authorities including Birmingham, Bristol and Bradford. Labour mayor for Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has also proposed one for england’s third biggest city.

It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has backed Mr Khan’s decision to expand the

Ulez zone to all 32 London boroughs, and suggested toxic air in the capital is causing lung cancer.

Labour’s leaked document also includes a policy to ‘pass a Clean Air Act, establish a legal right to breathe clean air and place new duties on ministers to ensure air quality guidelines are met’.

But howard Cox, the founder of the FairFuelUK campaign group, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘It is now clear that voting Labour means more anti- driver policies being introduced across the UK.

‘Starmer, alongside Sadiq Khan, is out of touch with voters, lowincome drivers and small businesses who are hit hardest by their draconian Ulez, low-traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph zones.’

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said: ‘This is all merely a foretaste of what would happen to towns and cities around the UK on the back of so-called clean air zones but will, in reality, be new taxes in disguise.’

The AA has previously warned that up to half a million motorists in London and Birmingham face being ‘priced off the road’ due to clean air zone charges.