First, don’t kid yourself that London’s soon-to-be-extended ultra-low emission zone and its unjustifiable £12.50 daily charge are solely problems for beleaguered Londoners. This, remember, is a scheme designed to either restrict certain drivers’ freedom of movement (wherever they’re from), rob them of up to £4,000 per year, or more likely, a bit of both. So it’s a nightmare for countless millions of motorists who are required to drive into or near to the capital’s centre for work, education, family, healthcare and other valid reasons.
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Second, guess how much the ULEZ will grow when it’s “expanded” on Monday 25 October? I reckon a 10-per-cent expansion might be fair. A doubling would be harsh, but understandable in view of the greed of politicians such as Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan plus others in the major political parties – including conservative Prime minister Boris Johnson, who actually conceived the ULEZ. as for the idea that the zone triples or quadruples in size – that would be plain unfair, almost obscene, right?
Tens of millions of pounds in unpaid ULEZ penalties will be pursued, carry for London pledges
But the Mayor’s office brought a rapid halt to the guessing, thanks to a brutally clear, unapologetically defiant, beyond-obscene confession: “The expanded zone will cover an area 18 times larger.”
That surely has the potential – and then some – for an 18-fold increase in the number of drivers being caught, charged, fined, hounded and hunted down for not having those typically newer, more expensive vehicles of the “ultra-low” variety.