ULEZ expansion making money off the poorest of Londoners, says Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall.
The Conservative candidate has said she would reverse the ULEZ expansion on the first day she took office.
As the former leader of the Conservative Group in the London Assembly, Ms Hall says some Londoners having to take out loans to fund purchase of a compliant car.
Speaking to GB News, Ms Hall said the latest charges were “hitting the poorest the most.”
“Some of the stories colleagues of mine and myself get told are absolutely heartbreaking,” she said.
He’s [Saqid Khan] not listening to what anybody says. A London mayor should listen to Londoners want and this is not what Londoners want.
“People cannot afford to replace their cars. The scrappage scheme is up to £2000 per car but you can’t buy a compliant car for £2000.
“And if people have to replace their cars, they’re having to take on loans for this, and in a cost-of-living crisis this is absolutely appalling.
“He’s [Saqid Khan] not listening to what anybody says. A London mayor should listen to Londoners want and this is not what Londoners want.
“He won’t back down on it. Even some of his own labour colleagues have said, ‘don’t do it’, but he doesn’t care. He just does exactly what he wants.
“People in inner London don’t mind it so much because you only have to go to the end of the road and you can get a bus or a train. You can’t do that in the outskirts of London.
“So people do rely on their cars, and I saw that piece on Sky the other morning: Kemi Badenoch was completely correct. Poor people do own cars because they often do shift work. They go into London late at night or through the nights.
“They rely on their car and they have to have a car because there isn’t public transport.
“TfL’s own impact assessment said the extended ULEZ would make virtually no difference whatsoever and he knows that there are other ways of doing this.
“It’s about money. £200 million they reckon they’re going to make out of this a year off the back of the poorest of Londoners.
“That’s not good enough, a mayor shouldn’t do that.”
Ms Hall has also announced she would invest £200 million in the Met Police to sort out crime, funded by savings at City Hall and TfL – including scrapping nominee passes.
She has also made a Delivery Guarantee promising that all of her commitments are:
- Costed and affordable
- Within the Mayor’s powers
- Realistic and achievable
Mayor of London and London Assembly Elections take place every four years. The last elections took place in May 2021. The next Mayoral and London Assembly elections will take place on Thursday 2 May 2024.
Source: GB News
Read: Susan Hall can beat Sadiq Khan to become London Mayor – but she can’t do it alone
