‘I’ll scrap ULEZ as Mayor of London’
A Kent campaigner who has led the battle to persuade the government not to increase fuel duty has entered the London mayoral race – and vows he will scrap ULEZ if he wins.
Howard Cox, from Cranbrook, is to stand as the candidate for the Reform Group in next year's contest, and has pledged to axe the controversial £12.50 daily ‘clean air’ charge introduced by Labour’s Sadiq Khan. He wants rid of the whole scheme, not just its expansion to outer London set to come in in August.
The charge has been criticised by a number of politicians in Kent, including council leaders, MPs and crime commissioner Matthew Scott. There are fears it will ‘exile’ lowincome households, disabled people and small businesses unable to afford new cars. If elected, Mr Cox wants to scrap the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ), phase out low traffic neighbourhoods and scale back 20mph speed limits. He set up FairFuelUK, one of the country’s most successful campaigns of recent years, and claims to have stopped more than £200bn of planned tax rises on fuel.
He is an experienced campaigner and PR operator - perhaps best known outside his work on fuel duty for coordinating the campaign for Ann Barnes to become Kent's first Police and Crime Commissioner.
Mr Cox has become increasingly sceptical about climate change and last September tweeted he thought there was no such thing but there was a cost-of-living crisis.
On the group‘s website, a statement says it represents “the real not-for-profit voice in Westminster for 37 million drivers who want clean air too but want it to be accomplished without being demonised, blamed and continually treated as easy cash cows”. He has also been sceptical about electric cars, saying that it is wrong to describe them as the future.
On last week’s announcement he is joining the race to become Mayor of London he said it had not been an easy decision but that during his campaigning on fuel duty, he had built up a following and had been encouraged to put his name forward.
“I can't ignore the requests - I feel very humble that they want me to take on the campaign against him.”
“I voted Tory for 50 years and it pains me to say it but I can't see them beating Khan.”
In an interview with GB News he said his main issues were to scrap ULEZ, cut crime and make London safe.
Pressed on the controversial arrests of 64 protesters during the King’s coronation by Met Police, Mr Cox said they were justified and officers had “done the right thing”.
The London ULEZ was introduced in April 2019 to discourage drivers of high-polluting vehicles. Its aim was to reduce pollution and help clean the city’s toxic air.
The scheme is to be extended to cover the whole of the capital – including the boroughs of Bexley and Bromley – from August 29.
The London mayoral election will be held on May 2, 2024 and Mr Khan, is seeking a third term. The Green Party’s candidate is Zoë Garbett, with the Conservatives yet to declare.