London mayor Sadiq Khan boosted by ULEZ court win – but insists he is in ‘listening mode’ after Labour’s Uxbridge defeat
Sadiq Khan has been weaponised by the Conservative Party – tied to the controversial ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) policy and Labour’s by-election loss in Uxbridge.
But today the London mayor cut a defiant figure, boosted by a High Court decision to back the expansion of ULEZ and deny a challenge by five Conservative councils.
Mr Khan wouldn’t be drawn on pressure to pause the scheme, telling Sky News: “We will be expanding ULEZ on August 29th”.
Mr Khan’s tone though has softened and he clearly had a message to get across. “I am listening to Londoners,” he told me 14 times, and said the ULEZ expansion had been “a difficult decision”.
When it came to accepting any political or personal responsibility however, for ULEZ’s impact on the result in Uxbridge which Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said was “the reason we lost the by-election”, Mr Khan’s answers were evasive.
I asked him five times if he accepted there had been any political cost at the ballot box. Each time he repeated difficult decisions had to be made.
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He said: “For me clean air isn’t a privilege, it’s a right. Nobody would accept dirty water, why should we accept dirty air?”
But the mayor of London appears to be at odds with the Labour leader who has said the policy needs to be “reflected on”.
Even former prime minister Tony Blair waded in this week warning against asking the public to do too much to tackle climate change.
Mr Khan may be in “listening” mode, but he obviously isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers in his own party to clean up London’s air.
The hope in City Hall may be that by pushing the expansion through quickly, by next spring the controversy will have lifted and any public anger soothed in time for the mayoral election.
What’s clear is that the Conservatives have spotted an opportunity. The new Uxbridge MP, Tory Steve Tuckwell, said today that the “case in the court of public opinion has certainly been lost”.
As a general election slowly creeps into view, the tension between green policies and the cost of living is in the spotlight and already becoming an election battleground beyond London.