🟥 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒: 𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐪 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐙 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Labour MPs in outer London are piling on the pressure for Sadiq Khan to stop the ULEZ expansion.

They’re panicking because more and more local people are planning to use the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election to send a message to Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan. 

The outer London community said no to ULEZ. And even though Sadiq Khan ignored the consultation, it’s becoming harder and harder to ignore the fight back now.

Thousands of local people have signed the petition.

Thousands of local people in Uxbridge, are planning to use their votes for anti-ULEZ candidate Steve Tuckwell.

Now more and more Labour MPs are piling the pressure on Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan to delay the extension, some even saying it should be dropped altogether.

Last week, when Starmer and the Labour candidate saw the reaction on the door steps while canvassing for the Uxbridge seat in the by-election, he said that the ULEZ extension could and should be delayed. 

But “Mr Flip Flop” has flopped again and yesterday on TV, he said he “supports Khan and it should go ahead”. 

We can’t afford to stop the pressure now, please share this petition, and stand up for our community.  

https://action.conservatives.com/stop-drivers-tax/

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐏 𝐒𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡. 

I’m a Labour MP: there’s nothing fair about the Ulez expansion

Last week, I was sitting in my weekly constituency surgery when a lovely lady called Anne walked in to see me. Anne is 79, and like a lot of people who come to my surgeries, she has been worrying about how she is going to pay for the new £12.50 a day Ulez charges that will be introduced in August.

Despite being 79 years old, she still works three days per week at St Helier Hospital on the switchboards. She goes to church on a Sunday and does her shopping with the rest of her weekend. She uses her car for it all.

After August she might have to give it all up. It isn’t worth the £2,900 a year charge she will have to pay.

Even though she is a blue disabled badge holder, Anne doesn’t qualify for a Ulez exemption because she does not receive disability benefit. Faced with that minefield of paperwork, lots of people in Anne’s situation would avoid the hassle and give up her work in the NHS.

𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐏, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫.

Anne’s case is not an anomaly. It is a classic example of how the Ulez extension is going to affect people in my outer London constituency, Mitcham and Morden.

Outer London is not like inner London. Public transport is much worse. People rely on their cars to get to work and to see their families, Charging people to drive their own car will make their lives harder every day.

That is true, not just for older people like Anne, but for small business owners, carers, and the rest of my constituents who drive to work.

Take Keith who is a Painter Decorator. He uses his car to go to jobs locally. He has a car instead of a van so that he can also take his family out on the weekend. Because the Ulez sole trader scrappage scheme only applies to vans and minibuses, he is not eligible.

Or James the landscaper who employs three people locally. He might be put out of business because his vehicle isn’t eligible for the scrappage scheme.

Making life more difficult for local small businesses and the self-employed is something that I just cannot get on board with.

Everything I do as a Labour MP is about making life easier for families and working people. This will make lives harder.

We have a problem in London with air pollution. But this is the wrong policy at the wrong time. That becomes very clear when you look at the impact it will have on carers.

There are currently 230,000 care workers in London, earning on average just under £24,000 a year. They don’t even earn £12.50 an hour, and we are talking about charging them £12.50 a day. A 15% tax on their take-home pay.

We have a staffing crisis in social care, with carers leaving the system for better paid professions. This is the worst possible time to make it harder for them to get to work.

As public policy makers it is our job to address problems in the fairest possible way. I believe that the people with the broadest shoulders should pay for them. Ulez does the opposite. It concentrates the burden on people in outer London who are least able to afford it.

People are already having to cope with 13 successive interest rates rises, skyrocketing mortgages, increased water rates, food bills going up by 20%, and their gas and electricity bills going through the roof.  

After August, they will have to add Ulez charges to that costly list. That is not something I can get behind.

I came into politics to help those who worked hard to support themselves and their families, not to add to the burdens that the Tories have piled on their shoulders. 

Siobhain McDonagh is Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden