Labour ‘fully behind’ London ULEZ expansion but party wouldn’t support rolling it out anywhere else

Former Labour leader and now shadow energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has said that the party’s leadership now unequivocally supports Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion. It comes after the current Labour chief, Sir Keir Starmer, said the party must be doing something ‘very wrong’ over the enlargement of the capital’s £12.50 fee to drive a non-compliant vehicle – those comments came after the Conservatives won the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election last year.

The party’s candidate at the time, Councillor Steve Tuckwell, told residents that a vote for him was a vote to ‘stop ULEZ ‘. Afterwards, Cllr Tuckwell told MyLondon that the poll was a ‘referendum on ULEZ’.

Asked if the Labour Party’s leadership were behind Mr Khan’s policy, Mr Miliband said: “Yes, and look it’s a settled policy, and Keir [Starmer] made that clear when he helped Sadiq launch his [mayoral campaign] last month. Look, different local leaders will make different decisions in different parts of the country.

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“That is the whole point of devolution. We are not in a one size fits all world. Sadiq made this decision because of his concern about what is happening, thousands of Londoners being affected by air pollution. And you’ve seen the results, which it has cut toxic air pollution.”

He refused to be drawn on whether he would have rolled out the expansion any differently. Mr Khan’s Tory rival, Susan Hall, has said that she would scrap the ULEZ expansion ‘on day one’.

‘It is for the people of London to decide’

When asked if he feared a backlash at the ballot box during the mayoral election in the manner of that seen in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Mr Miliband added: “I think it’s important to say that this is for people to decide, you know, it’s for the people of London to make the decisions about how they vote in this election.

“But I think when you look at what Sadiq is doing, he is somebody who is committed both to tackling air pollution, which is really important, and helping people out with the cost of living.” He then mentioned the mayor’s policies on free school meals and said that Mr Khan has ‘led the way’.

However, the shadow cabinet minister stopped short of suggesting that other cities across the country should have their own version of the ULEZ. He said: “I’m not going to advocate for that, no, that’s a matter for local leaders to make their own decisions about what’s the right thing for their areas.”

MyLondon also asked the former Labour leader whether he was worried about Susan Hall putting the ULEZ expansion front and centre of her campaign. He said: “Her campaign is ridiculous. I don’t think people want the kind of frankly far-right conspiracy theory stuff that we get from Susan Hall. That ridiculous advert that they had to take, well only partially, take down. I think it’s desperate tactics.”

Susan Hall’s team was approached for comment, but a spokesperson for her campaign did not wish to comment.

Read our exclusive sit-down interview with Sadiq Khan ahead of the London mayoral election here. Read our full chat with Susan Hall here.

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