London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office has actually been implicated of trying to press researchers to back his green program anti-car ULEZ plan after a study discovered that the tax on vehicle drivers had a minimal effect on improving air quality in the capital.
Far-left Sadiq Khan’s deputy for the environment and energy Shirley Rodrigues supposedly demanded Teacher Frank Kelly, a leading scientist on the subject of air contamination, that he challenge characterisations in the media that a study produced by his associates at Imperial College London demonstrated that the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) imposed by the Khan administration in 2019 resulted “in just small enhancements in air quality not long after it was implemented”.
Following reports in the media about the study, Rodrigues wrote to Kelly asking him to assist the mayor’s office “set the record straight” which she was “really disappointed” in Imperial College for publicising its findings into the ineffectiveness of the scheme, according to e-mails gotten by The Telegraph.
Declaring that the study could not give a precise picture up until the policy had actually been carried out for a longer time period, the mayor’s help continued: “I am deeply worried about the damage this deceptive research study is doing, both to our reliability and to low emission zones as a policy instrument.”
The following day after Teacher Kelly had revealed desire to support the Greater London Authority’s position on the study, Rodrigues composed: “I do appreciate that you don’t wish to have a ‘battle’ with another part of Imperial but The Times… have likewise picked up (the report) and (are) repeating the mistake. Is there anything you ‘d more than happy to place on the record now?”
In February of this year following a short article published by the Daily Telegraph, Khan’s deputy as soon as again emailed the teacher, asking him to personally write to the paper in order to “challenge some of the misconceptions” in the article.
Kelly is reported to have reacted that Imperial College was opposed to expressing a “direct contradiction” of the study, but added that “As always, I’m happy to fight back.”
London authorities exposed Friday nearly 300 incidents of attacks against spy cameras used in the city’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) have been taped ahead of the contentious scheme’s larger rollout later this month. https://t.co/6A5XwsuZwi
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 18, 2023
The revelations come as Mayor Khan is set to broaden the ULEZ plan to the whole of London, meaning that thousands of vehicle drivers will be required to pay between ₤ 12.50 to ₤ 27.50 per day if they drive in the city, infuriating blue-collar and working-class people who require to commute by cars and truck in the city for their jobs.
While there are some exceptions for newer vehicles that meet emissions requirements, as well as for hybrid and electric vehicles, ironically lots of motorists who were formerly encouraged by the federal government to purchase diesel-powered cars and trucks– previously touted as being more environmentally friendly– will fall afoul of the policy.
The planned expansion of the ULEZ plan has seen prevalent pushback, with growing protests throughout the capital and even rogue action taken by some to dismantle or ruin the security electronic cameras used to implement the tax. Even Khan’s own Labour Celebration under Sir Keir Starmer has actually looked for to distance themselves from the plan, with the party scrapping plans to enact similar policies throughout the country on the backs of a humiliating by-election loss to the Tories last month in London over the plan.
Despite the fearmongering originating from the mayor’s workplace surrounding air pollution, not just exist questions surrounding the effectiveness of an automobile tax to make significant modifications to the environment but likewise on the actual risks dealt with by Londoners. According to the Office for National Statists, throughout a two-decade period between 2001 and 2021, there was just one registered death in London credited to air pollution, and even because case the government’s statistician kept in mind that they are “not able to determine whether this involved cars and truck emissions.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s anti-car ULEZ tax plan is part of a wider “war on individual liberty”, cautioned @LozzaFox https://t.co/WKFr5oxDcY
— Kurt Zindulka (@KurtZindulka) July 18, 2023