Keir Starmer urged to ‘get off the fence’ and order Sadiq Khan to halt ULEZ expansion amid deepening Labour civil war – as London Mayor vows to roll out hated £12.50-a-day scheme on August 29 after High Court win
Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to order Labour mayor Sadiq Khan to halt the controversial expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez).
Cabinet ministers today told the Labour leader to ‘get off the fence’ and direct Mr Khan to abandon his planned extension of the scheme to all parts of the capital from next month.
It came after the London mayor this morning won a legal battle against five Tory-led local councils at the High Court.
Following the ruling, Mr Khan immediately vowed to push ahead with enforcing the £12.50-a-day charge for non-compliant vehicles in all Greater London boroughs from 29 August.
This opened up fresh conflict with Sir Keir – who had told Mr Khan to ‘reflect’ on the plans in ‘frank’ talks following Labour’s defeat in last week’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, which was blamed on a local backlash against Ulez.
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves had also told Mr Khan that now is ‘not the right time’ to ‘clobber people with extra charges’.
Senior Tories lined up to demand Sir Keir lean on the London mayor to shelve his Ulez plans.