Dare
BiB step into the ULEZ debate again?
Firstly it should be explained that the cleverly named @blackandblueone is a
Conservative Councillor in Bexley and @lovelacegeezer was Vice-Chair of Old
Bexley & Sidcup Labour until he was replaced by Dave Tingle, about whom more later.
I’m not sure if Felix is right to blame ULEZ extension wholly on Sadiq Khan. If
I remember correctly it was Boris Johnson who first came up with the idea but his
timetable for introduction was far more reasonable giving time for older vehicles to be replaced naturally.
Felix’s point about being able to buy a licence to pollute for £12·50 a day is
not easy to refute. If Khan was more interested in public health than raising
money he would simply ban non-compliant private cars.
Mr. Lovelace suggests a simpler and perhaps more acceptable solution; limiting engine size. Most
requirements could be met with small or medium size cars. Once again commercial
vehicles would require special consideration but London’s commercial success is
not something in which Khan has ever been interested.
In related Tweets Mr. Tingle the habitual Labour election candidate has
advocated selling non-compliant cars and using the money to buy something that
is Khan-proof.
That may be possible if one is prepared to go down market but if you favour that
route, best do it now rather than later. The Labour Vice-Chair may not have
taken account of the fact that non-compliant vehicles will soon be worthless
except perhaps in rural areas. The price of compliant vehicles is likely to
rise, they seem to be doing so already.
Last week the government raised the price of the most affordable electric
vehicles by £1,500 with knock on effects on the price of second hand vehicles. Mine could
be sold for pretty much the same price as I paid new in 2018. Boris’s Britain is mad at pretty much every level.
The alternative is to do as two of my friends have, buy a 1974 MG-B or an even
older Austin. Both are big time pollutants but exempt from Khan’s money grabbing scheme.