Keir Starmer faced fresh calls last night for him to try to delay the expansion of London’s clean air zone.
Senior Tories said he should ‘get off the fence’ and force the capital’s mayor Sadiq Khan to protect motorists set to pay the Ulez levy.
The High Court yesterday backed the extension of Ulez into outer London – a move that could lead to similar schemes elsewhere in Britain.
Sir Keir has refused to say whether the zone should expand, claiming it is not a ‘simple political decision’. He remained silent after yesterday’s court ruling.
Rishi Sunak last night led MPs and campaigners asking the Labour leader to make Mr Khan either postpone the £12.50 daily levy for older, more polluting vehicles or ditch it entirely. The zone expands on August 29.
Keir Starmer (left) faced fresh calls last night for him to try to delay the expansion of London mayor Sadiq Khan’s (right) Ulez
Rishi Sunak (pictured) last night led MPs and campaigners asking the Labour leader to make Mr Khan either postpone the £12.50 daily levy for older, more polluting vehicles or ditch it
The Prime Minister said: ‘Sir Keir Starmer’s mayor should think twice before choosing to press ahead with imposing this Ulez tax on hard-working people.
It will mean ordinary people will have to pay £12.50 every time they take their kids to school, go to the doctors or to do their weekly food shop. And at a time of high inflation and cost of living that would be an incredibly unnecessary burden to inflict on hardworking families.’
Mr Khan’s plans, which will see nearly 700,000 cars across Greater London pay the daily charge, according to the RAC, have caused outrage among some families and tradesmen who rely on their vehicles.
More than 1.5million people living outside London could also be affected by the expanded Ulez zone, data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency revealed this year.
Responding to yesterday’s ruling, Mr Khan insisted nine out of ten cars in outer London would not need to pay the charge, adding: ‘The decision to expand the Ulez was very difficult and not something I took lightly and I continue to do everything possible to address any concerns Londoners may have.
‘This unambiguous decision today in the High Court allows us to press on with the difficult but vital task of cleaning up London’s air and tackling the climate crisis.’
Senior Labour figures blamed Ulez for their failure to win last week’s by-election in Uxbridge, Boris Johnson’s old seat in west London. Sir Keir said last weekend: ‘We are doing something very wrong if policies put forward by the Labour party end up on each and every Tory leaflet. We’ve got to face up to that and learn the lessons.’
But on Wednesday the Labour leader dodged a question on whether the Ulez extension should proceed, saying it was up to Mr Khan to decide whether to press on with the policy.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week said it was ‘not the right time’ to expand Ulez in London. The party’s health spokesman, Wes Streeting, told Times Radio: ‘Keir has been very clear that he doesn’t want it to go ahead at this stage, as has Rachel Reeves.
‘I would agree with them. But Sadiq is the mayor of London. He doesn’t answer to us, he answers to Londoners. If you believe in devolution, you believe in his right to do that. We’re going to have to take it on the chin. And he’s going to take the criticism on the chin and we’ll see what happens.’
Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said the issue would show what type of leader Sir Keir was: ‘Time to get off the fence and tell your mayor to do the right thing and stop the Ulez expansion.’
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer added: ‘Sir Keir needs to do the right thing, and tell the Labour mayor to ditch his Ulez expansion. It will only punish hardworking Londoners.’
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said it ‘wasn’t very clear that this delivers against emissions targets at all… this is about raising money – that is what people can see and that is what they object to’.
He added: ‘The expansion of Ulez to the whole of Greater London does not make sense and we are not in favour of it.’
The High Court challenge, which was brought by the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon along with Surrey County Council, was defeated on the grounds that Mr Khan’s Ulez policy was an expansion.
Mr Justice Swift said: ‘I am satisfied that the mayor’s decision to expand the Ulez area by amendment of the present road charging scheme, rather than by making an entirely new… scheme, was within his powers.’ He said the consultation process gave enough information to produce informed responses.
Responding to the ruling in a joint press release the five councils questioned whether Mr Khan had a ‘moral right’ to expand the scheme.
Seven other areas have clean air zones that charge motorists in England: Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield, and Newcastle and Gateshead. Labour mayor Andy Burnham is considering one in Manchester. In Scotland there is already a fully-operating low emissions zone in Glasgow, with similar schemes due to start in Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen next year.
Chris Clarkson, the Tory MP for Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester, said the court ruling had serious implications for motorists across England, especially in his constituency.
Anti-ULEZ protestors demonstrate outside The Royal Courts of Justice ahead of the ruling on the expansion of London’s clean air zone
The AA urged Mr Khan to give drivers ‘more time to react’ to the change or reduce the impact on them, while the RAC called on the mayor to give additional support to key workers.
But climate charity Possible described the judgment as ‘fantastic’, arguing that Ulez expansion was ‘sorely needed to tackle our overreliance on cars and improve air quality’.
From Monday, access to the mayor’s £110million scheme which provides grants supporting the scrapping of non Ulez-compliant vehicles in London will be extended.
It will now include all families in receipt of child benefit and every small business.