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The latest ‘allegedly’…. These concern lesser matters such as misleading the London Assembly,
but also tampering with the consultation process. Truth will out; for now,
you can download the dossier
of whistleblower revelations (note: 89MB Zip file). https://twitter.com/GLAConservative/status/1615228211738075136
Sadiq Khan
repeatedly denied seeing the ULEZ consultation results in advance, when he
was questioned by @PeterTFortune at
the London Assembly. Yet we now know that wasn't true https://twitter.com/GLAConservative/status/1615228202271768584
NEW: Sadiq
Khan made false and dishonest statements to the London Assembly, and
manipulated the ULEZ consultation results by improperly excluding thousands
of responses. 200+ pages of
internal emails and documents have been released today, exposing the truth. https://twitter.com/GLAConservative/status/1615228215936835584
Sadiq Khan's
actions amount to serious misconduct, and undermined the integrity of the
ULEZ consultation. @NJROnline has made a formal complaint to the GLA
Monitoring Officer, who is expected to investigate the Mayor for multiple
code of conduct breaches. Much of the scrutiny of the Mayor’s plans has been by the GLA Conservative
AMs. If you would like updates, write to your Conservative GLA member. If
your AM is Labour, you can try a London-wide member like Con group leader,
Susan Hall. Contact
details. |
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Conservative MPs’ positions and holding the government to
its promises.
Elliot Colburn MP (Carshalton &
Wallington) said
that his MPs were exploring a possible legal challenge and “ways to legally
challenge the expansion and that boroughs could make the implementation
difficult”. Minister for London Paul Scully (MP for Sutton and Cheam) has run a
fund-raising exercise for the Conservative Party “to campaign against ULEZ”,
but has not yet responded to our question on exactly how. However Basildon MP Stephen Metcalfe
drew
a blank in asking the government to intervene. The PM’s answer
was disappointing, suggesting it was for Sir Keir Starmer and Khan to stop
ULEZ expansion… abdication through devolution. The PM gave a similar brush-off
to David Simmonds (MP for Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner). About as much use
as the authorities refusing to act against a gang vandalising your property
and advising you to beg their leader to tell them to stop! It has been suggested that the PM
and Transport Secretary might stop Khan under the Greater London Authority
Act, 1999 (section
143). But the Mayor’s policy would have to have been ‘inconsistent’ with
national policy. In fact, he was instructed
to ‘urgently bring forward proposals to widen the scope and levels of’ [ULEZ
and the Congestion Charge]. Wider
article on ‘national policy’ worth a read - a betrayal of those who drive
in London by the then Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps MP. Perhaps we should write to the PM (via our own MPs)
demanding action? After all the PM has recently asked us to hold
him to account over his newly stated national policies - keeping the cost
of living down. And with it protect jobs and the economy while keeping
inflation down. |
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Conservative and other councils – non-cooperation and legal action?
There have been reports
that outer London councils will block the installation of surveillance
cameras needed to enforce ULEZ. Sutton
(LibDem) and Harrow
councils (e.g.) have already committed to do that, against warnings that the
move could backfire. On limited info, there may be a number
of ways around any block. Some Labour councils (e.g. Enfield) are supporting
the Mayor. There are also reports
that TfL plans to install about two-thirds of the automatic number-plate
reading (ANPR) cameras – more than 1,800 cameras – on top of traffic lights, ‘a
move that does not need borough consent’. There may be ‘reserved powers’ for
the Mayor and TfL, but the legal position is being clarified. If the issue is
otherwise planning permission, TfL could report the councils to the Planning
Inspectorate (central government)? Finally, councils are also supposed to
support the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (albeit with some flexibility). Note: There is already
infrastructure in place to police the ‘Low Emission Zone’ (LEZ) that already
applies ULEZ restrictions to the heaviest vehicles. A Judicial Review (JR) would be needed to quash the decision to
expand ULEZ. An application for a JR must be made
by 25 Feb. The courts are not interested as to whether the Mayor has been
slippery towards GLA members or a hypocrite, flying to California’s cannabis
farms while telling us to cut our emissions. They would merely be interested
if there were flaws in his
decision-making on expanding ULEZ. Four Conservative councils (Harrow,
Hillingdon, Bexley, Bromley) have hinted at legal action. Hillingdon’s January
council meeting featured a Motion
(9.3) for a plan of action to oppose the ULEZ decision backed by a budget (i.e. funding). Bromley Council has talked
up the legal groundwork (‘pre-action protocol’). The BBC rather
dismissively covered the grounds for action; the summary does not reflect
some detailed and quite credible points of law. Watch this space… |
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Pushing ULEZ to hammer drivers
costs money – our money The Mayor was told he cannot use the
TfL bailout
to finance the scheme, although perversely the government forced him to find
a new source of income. A new TfL budget
for 2023/24 is being set up, with the Mayor warning
of “tough choices” and other spending having to be sacrificed. (It
won’t be anti-driver ‘active travel’ schemes, as nice Mr Shapps gave him £150
million towards these.) It is rumoured that the Mayor will
be using a ‘green
bond’ (note: from ‘GLA’
not TfL, basically debt repaid out of future income from somewhere).
Expanding ULEZ on 29 August was expected to raise £200 million (net) in
the next financial year after heavy costs. The latest
bombshell: “London hit with biggest
transport and council tax rises in a decade” Click for updates on ABD’s 2022 campaign to stop Khan and
developments since. Please
help spread the word and - better still - actively support us |
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STOP PRESS: Independent
crowd-funder for a Judicial Review, with an update on progress pending.
(For
more on CrowdJustice appeal T&Cs). |
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