Sadiq Khan's hated Ulez expansion fails to lower pollution levels in London's biggest borough
Sadiq Khan's hated expansion of the Ulez scheme to outer London has failed to lower pollution levels in the capital's biggest borough, it is claimed.
The zone, which charges some motorists £12.50-a-day to use their vehicles in the city, was expanded to cover the entirety of Greater London last year.
The Mayor of London claimed that the move would help combat pollution emitted by vehicles, including harmful gas nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which is linked to respiratory issues.
However, a report by Bromley Council has found that after the Ulez was put into place in the borough there was no 'overall lowering in pollution' in the months that followed.
The borough, which is partly rural and the largest in London, saw vehicle pollutants rise after the charge was implemented on August 29, 2023, according to a report by the council's environment committee.
The Ulez scheme was expanded to cover the entirety of Greater London in August, last year., Pictured: A map showing where the Ulez scheme is in effect
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has claimed the expanded Ulez scheme will combat pollution in the capital. Pictured: Mr Khan outside Downing Street on July 9, this year
The document, details of which were first reported in The Telegraph, said that when measurements of NO2 were taken in November last year, the levels were higher at all 32 air quality monitoring stations in Bromley than the previous August.
The report blamed 'seasonal weather and temperature variations' for the rise, with data from December 2023 showing that only eight locations had higher levels of NO2 compared to the same August.
It concluded that when data was compared with 2022 there does not appear to be an 'an overall lowering in pollution levels that can be directly attributed to the implementation of Ulez'.
The report added that part of the rise in pollution levels may have been due to measurements in 2022 being lower than expected as an after-effect of the Covid pandemic when travel restrictions were in place.
This is in contrast to research conducted by City Hall, which claimed in July that the scheme was working 'even better than expected'.
It released a report claiming that exhaust emissions were an estimated 22 per cent lower in outer London than they would have been if the expansion had not taken place.
A spokesman for Mr Khan told MailOnline: 'The mayor is committed to improving air quality in London and has taken world-leading action to tackle toxic air pollution, which prematurely takes the lives of an estimated 4,000 Londoners each year.
'One year on, millions of Londoners are now breathing cleaner air and all the evidence shows that it was the right decision.
'The London-wide ULEZ six month report shows the scheme is working even better than expected, with pollutant emissions lower than if the Mayor hadn't expanded the scheme.
'Air quality in London is improving at a faster rate than the average for the rest of England, and with 96 per cent of vehicles now ULEZ compliant, thousands of Londoners have made the switch to cleaner vehicles.
'It's thanks to the ULEZ and the other policies the Mayor has put in place to tackle air pollution that we are now set to get London's air within legal limits by 2025.'
Mr Khan has been heavily criticised for his decision to expand the scheme, sparking protests from those living in the affected boroughs and scenes of vandalism as so-called 'Blade Runners' repeatedly saw down the cameras that enforce the rules.
A vandalised Ulez camera in Court Road, Bromley, after it was targeted by vigilantes in August 2023
In August footage emerged showing a masked vigilante hacking down an Ulez camera in Uxbridge with an electric saw.
Last October a member of the group vowed to continue destroying the equipment until they are no longer replaced or the scheme is removed.
In an interview with Talk TV, the masked maverick - who used Ben as a fake name - claimed to have wrecked 150 of the traffic cameras since they were expanded across the capital's boroughs on August 29.
Ben, wearing a balaclava and hood, is seen in the footage using an angle-grinder to cut down a Ulez camera mounted on a traffic light in just four seconds.
The father-of-three, aged in his forties, said he goes out in the dead of night several days a week flouting the law to carry out what he calls 'unpaid voluntary work'.
Speaking to TalkTV, Ben claimed he's behind a near total blackout of enforcement cameras in the Bromley area, one of the Greater London boroughs where the scheme has been extended.
Ben insisted support among the public was widespread with many hailing them as heroes, saying, 'We are the voice of the people. You experienced the cheers against ULEZ right there and then you can see we are reflecting the voice of the public.'
Ben - who has been a member of the group for several months, and said membership is growing: 'It started off as a small group of people and it has gradually grown.
'Since the expansion went live on August 29, numbers have increased significantly. We're like a pack of lone wolves. We sometimes work together, we work in isolation, and we all have this common goal.'
Ben said mayor Sadiq Khan is targeting the most vulnerable people at the worst possible time as they struggle through a cost of living crisis.
He explains: 'The members of society that have less disposable income are hit the hardest because if they can't afford to change their vehicle, they'll be subject to that daily charge no matter what.
He claimed the ULEZ network has been installed to 'catch everyone out'.
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