Category Archives: ULEZ

Drivers Still Refusing to Pay ULEZ

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According to a report in Kent Online most drivers in Kent receiving fines for non-payment of the ULEZ in London are still refusing to pay. Meanwhile Sadiq Khan is chasing up more non-payers by using bailiffs to do so. Total of outstanding fines is £370 million and 1,400 vehicles have so far been seized for repeated non-payment. How much is that costing? That’s not been disclosed but it could be very expensive as avoiding bailiffs is not difficult. One issue is that those resident in Kent don’t get a vote on who is Mayor so it’s taxation without representation.

It just demonstrates the anger with which motorists view the ULEZ system which has not made any significant improvement in air quality and is just viewed as a tax raising system.

Another TfL budget problem is that Transport for London may be required to refund millions of pounds in fines issued to Dutch lorry drivers for Ultra Low Emission Zone and LEZ  violations. They were issued fines unlawfully – see https://www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/cars/tfl-pay-millions-wrongly-issued-ulez-fines-dutch

These events just demonstrate how incompetent TfL is and that making fines stick on people who don’t agree with a policy is not easy.

We need TfL to be taken out of the control of the Mayor of London who acts as a dictator and can ignore public opinion.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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ULEZ Expansion and Air Pollution Data

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Transport for London have finally published some data on the impact of the expansion of the ULEZ to outer London on air pollution levels – see link below. The report is full of “spin” and misleading data.

I can do no better than to quote political commentator Gaia Fawkes: “Sadiq Khan’s wallet-hitting ULEZ expansion cost the taxpayer a whopping £500 million, and despite the spin that emissions are “dramatically” lower, the first report shows that roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations in outer London were just 4.4% lower since the scheme. No need to know the value for money when others are paying for it…

Still, the report tries to spin the abysmal figures, claiming harmful emissions were “21% lower” overall following the expansion. Though the buried ‘context’ section in the report shows the data includes “all of the Mayor’s policies to reduce emissions,” not just the ULEZ expansion. It even admits that it’s impossible to “isolate the impact of the ULEZ and its expansion.” Even when claims of success are impossible to verify, they can’t produce good numbers…

Susan Hall AM slammed the revelations:

“From day one, we were absolutely clear that expanding the ULEZ was going to cost the taxpayer a huge sum and hammer the poorest drivers, whilst making very little difference to air quality in outer London. Despite the Mayor’s outrageous attempts to spin the figures, we can see the effect of the expansion on air quality was minimal.”

A kick in the teeth for those having to fork up the £12.50 daily fee…”

In conclusion the ULEZ expansion was not justifiable on any rational cost/benefit analysis. It’s just been a tax raising exercise to bolster Sadiq Khan’s finances.

Air pollution data: https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/environment-and-climate-change-publications/london-wide-ulez-six-month-report#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20six%20months,air%20quality%20across%20the%20capital.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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ULEZ Fines Not Paid

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The Daily Express has reported based on FOI Act requests that £218 million is owed in unpaid ULEZ fines in London. That’s 950,000 fines that have not been paid since September 2023 which shows the amount of opposition to the scheme, particularly when it was expanded to outer London.

It includes one driver who has received over 200 fines for a single vehicle.

See https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1905855/unpaid-london-ulez-fines-tfl-foi

We are still awaiting any evidence that it has reduced air pollution.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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Bid to Scrap ULEZ Talked Out

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Last week a private members Bill introduced in Parliament by Gareth Johnson M.P. failed to progress as it was “talked out” by Labour politicians. The bill would have given the Secretary of State for Transport powers to set the boundaries of the ULEZ in London – see https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3555. This would have given clear powers to central Government to halt the ULEZ expansion as recently happened.

The Government says it supported the bill. Will it bring it back into Parliament? It should certainly do so. It is time the Government took powers away from Sadiq Khan who is only interested in raising taxes to fund his own empire.

There was never any justification for expanding the ULEZ to outer London. Tory Mayoral candidate Susan Hall says she will scrap the expansion while the Reform candidate Howard Cox says he will scrap the ULEZ scheme altogether. Some tactical voting may be required to ensure Sadiq Khan is ejected in May.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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The Iniquity of ULEZ Enforcement

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The Daily Telegraph has published a good article on the problems associated with enforcement of the ULEZ scheme. It particularly affects foreign drivers. To quote from the article:

“It isn’t just Londoners or even British people who are being stung by the new scheme. Many European motorists have been handed extortionately high fines – some as high as £11,000 – due to errors in their paperwork. These drivers (usually of compliant vehicles) neglected to add their information to a data portal run by the enforcement agency Euro Parking Collection, an omission that TfL seems to think merits a five-figure financial penalty”.

All ULEZ and CAZ schemes suffer from the same problems. They rely on technology working and drivers being aware of the regulations, neither of which is often true. And enforcement raises more money than the legal charges so there is no incentive on operators to ensure they are working properly.

The ULEZ system and all the associated charging and fine structure should be removed, along with Sadiq Khan and the senior management of TfL who have enabled this money-making scheme to be imposed.

See Telegraph article here:  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/29/ulez-sadiq-khan-london-ultra-low-emission-zone/

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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TfL Misleading the Public and A20 Speed Limit

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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against TfL after complaints about misleading advertisements promoting the merits of expanding the ULEZ scheme in London. It said the Greater London Authority or TfL breached its rules on three occasions, including with the suggestion that “one of the most polluted places in London is inside your car”. TfL was also wrong to have said that “most air pollution related deaths actually occur in Outer London areas” and that the Ulez had resulted in “almost a halving of levels of nitrogen dioxide” in central London.

The merit or need for an expanded ULEZ has consistently been exaggerated by TfL and by Mayor Sadiq Khan, no doubt for financial reasons. There is in reality absolutely minimal health benefits from an expanded ULEZ but it is costing Londoners many millions of pounds to needlessly change their vehicles or pay penalties.

Evening Standard report:  https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ulez-london-tfl-sadiq-khan-advertising-standards-authority-ads-b1137461.html

More analysis of the ULEZ: https://freedomfordrivers.blog/2020/04/15/ulez-the-latest-information-including-poor-financial-outcome/

This ASA ruling is a good example of how Sadiq Khan frequently misleads the public for the sake of justifying more taxes to fill his coffers or win political points.

A20 Speed Limit Fines

Meanwhile the number of drivers fined for exceeding the new speed limit on the A20 is rapidly rising. The issue has been taken up by specialist legal firm Patterson Law – see https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/a20-sidcup-south-east-london-fines-40mph-40mph-speeding-tickets-limit-b1137040.html . There is also an active Facebook group on the subject:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1040378643884255

The BBC has also provided coverage and several politicians have taken up the issue.

See our original post on the subject, and particularly the comments thereon, for more information:  https://freedomfordrivers.blog/2023/10/01/the-war-on-the-motorist-and-new-a20-speed-limit/

In summary it’s unreasonable to prosecute people for exceeding the new speed limit when the road is dry. It’s only dangerous when there is heavy rain so specific signage to cover that was more appropriate.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

Parliamentary Petition to Expand those who can vote for London Mayor

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To follow on from my previous blog post on a move to block ULEZ expansion in Parliament, it would help if everyone could sign the following Parliamentary petition.

Sadiq Khan’s support in London is predominantly in Inner London, Outer London largely does not vote for him and if the vote for the London Mayor could be extended to the home counties there is no doubt that it would be the end of this petty dictator.

The home counties rely on London boroughs for jobs, shopping and medical facilities so it is unfair that that they don’t have a say in who is Mayor and their policies.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO GIVE THEM A VOICE

Give Everyone within the Home Counties a vote for the London Mayor. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/643187 (click on to access)

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

Private Members Bill to Stop ULEZ?

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Gareth Johnson, MP for Dartford, is introducing a private members bill in Parliament that will overturn the expansion of the ULEZ scheme into outer London. See https://www.garethjohnsondartford.co.uk/news/gareth-johnson-mp-announces-private-members-bill-overturn-ulez-expansion and https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/net-zero/tory-mps-plot-to-overturn-sadiq-khans-ulez-expansion/ .

The ULEZ scheme imposes high costs on drivers in outer London and surrounding counties when many of them do not even get a vote for the Mayor of London. It also impacts those with older vehicles who can least afford the charges. The ULEZ expansion will have negligible impact on air pollution in outer London. It’s simply an unjustified way of raising taxation to fund public transport and Sadiq Khan’s mismanagement of TfL.

Let us hope that MPs and the Government support this bill although it’s always difficult to get private members bills through Parliament as they are often “talked out” by opposers.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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Sadiq Khan Lied Over Emissions

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We all know Sadiq Khan is a consistent liar but a draft report from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirms exactly that.  A total of 578 people contacted the ASA to “challenge” TfL (Transport for London) to prove its claims about the impact of the ULEZ, which were broadcast and published between January and June this year. The advertising watchdog’s recommendations state that two complaints about two radio adverts and one in a newspaper should be upheld.

See https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/18/sadiq-khan-ulez-expansion-pollution-reduction-asa-report/

There is no doubt that the information published by TfL and Sadiq Khan prior to the public consultation on expansion of the ULEZ was grossly misleading. The health benefit from expansion of the ULEZ is negligible but the financial cost will be enormous. Costs of £2.7 billion over the last 5 years on TfL charges on motorists have already been incurred which will rise even higher in the next couple of years – see https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/18/london-drivers-pay-billions-charges-ulez-sadiq-khan/

It’s time we had a new London Mayor who is more financially competent and does not rely on motorists to bail TfL out from reckless mismanagement of public transport finances.  

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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Moving Pollution Up North

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I recently traded in my non-ULEZ compliant Jaguar XF for a petrol vehicle. I got a better trade-in price than I expected but it was not a total surprise because I figured that dealers would sell such vehicles in the North of England or Scotland. According to a report in the Telegraph (see link below), that is exactly what has been happening.

Sadiq Khan has just exported London’s air pollution to the rest of the country. Which I am sure they are grateful to receive – NOT. This is what happens when you have an idiot in charge in London who does not consider the unintended consequences of his actions.

Telegraph article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/22/londons-diesel-cars-being-sent-to-the-north-because-of-ulez/

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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