Labour’s candidate in the Uxbridge by-election has spoken out against the expansion of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) amid fears it could hamper the party’s chances in Boris Johnson’s former seat.
Danny Beales took part in a hustings in which he said it was “not the right time” to expand the scheme into the borough of Hillingdon, which covers Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the constituency vacated by the former prime minister last month.
Addressing the hustings, Mr Beales said it would be wrong to expand the scheme – which charges heavy polluting vehicles to drive on central roads – into outer London due to the rising cost of living.
The Labour candidate told Sky News’ political correspondent Rob Powell that he had heard “heart-wrenching stories” from residents and workers who are unable to pay the daily £12.50 charge or switch to a new car that meets emissions standards.
“What I’ve been saying – despite perhaps what’s been reported in some various pieces of political literature – is it’s not the right time to extend the ULEZ scheme in outer London, it’s just not,” he said.
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“I think when you speak to families, I hear heart-wrenching stories at the moment: carers who have to travel to work and can’t afford to pay for their car and may have to give up their job or they can’t afford to scrap their car with the scrappage scheme available.
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“Of course we want clean air, of course we all do… But to do it now, when mortgages are going up £500, £600, £700 a month because the Tories have crashed the economy, when fuel bills and food bills come up exponentially…”
The comments mark a change in Mr Beales’ public position. Last month, he defended the policy while acknowledging that it was “tough” for families facing higher food and mortgage bills.
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Mr Beales has also not previously publicly suggested the scheme should not be expanded, but that the focus should instead be on ensuring people receive help to transition their vehicles in line with the scheme.
Asked whether he believed Mr Khan was wrong, Mr Beales said he had written to both the government and the mayor about the issue.
“I’ve spoken out about this issue. I have had hundreds of conversations on the doorstep about this issue and that’s the message I give,” he said.
“Community first, party second,” he added.
A Labour campaign spokesperson later confirmed that Mr Beales believed the rollout of the ULEZ expansion into Uxbridge and South Ruislip should be delayed until a properly funded scrappage scheme is in place and that he had called on the government and City Hall to go further in providing more support.
While the government has given Birmingham and other cities upwards of £30m for their schemes, Labour believes the government needs to provide more funding for the capital.
But Steve Tuckwell, the Conservative candidate for Uxbridge, said Mr Beales had “backed ULEZ expansion to our borough for years from the comfort of his central London council chamber”.
“Now it’s losing him support on the doorstep, he’s trying to trick people into thinking he wants it delayed,” he said.
“Local people don’t want a delay, they want it scrapped.”
He added: “He was asked tonight if he thought the mayor was wrong – he refused to say so.
“What more proof is there that he won’t stand up to the mayor?”
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ULEZ, which was launched in April 2019, currently covers central London and the area up to, but not including, the North and South Circular Roads.
Mr Khan plans to expand the zone up to the capital’s borders with Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, a move that would bring around five million more Londoners into the scheme.
The Conservatives – rocked by the controversial nature of Mr Johnson’s resignation – hope to win support in Uxbridge by capitalising on residents’ opposition to the mayor’s plan to expand the zone at the end of next month.
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Recent polling showed 39% of Londoners were in support of ULEZ, while 35% opposed and 21% were neutral.
Protest groups such as Action Against ULEZ Extension and The Blade Runners have sprung up in opposition to the expansion, with the latter resorting to vandalising new cameras or pulling them down.
Meanwhile, five councils – the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, Hillingdon and Surrey County Council – have launched a legal challenge against the proposed ULEZ expansion, which began in the High Court on Tuesday.
A source close to Mr Khan said: “The mayor has always said that it was an incredibly difficult decision to expand ULEZ London-wide. But he believes it’s his duty as mayor to put tackling the climate crisis and the health of Londoners first.
“The mayor has put the biggest-ever scrappage and retrofit scheme in place, which he expanded recently after listening to the concerns of Londoners.
“But he agrees with Danny Beales that the government should do more to help Londoners. Ministers have given millions of pounds to other cities for scrappage schemes, including Birmingham, Bristol and Portsmouth, but not a single penny to London.”
