Sadiq Khan fumes he'll take 'no lectures' from Boris Johnson over ULEZ

Furious Sadiq Khan fumes he’ll take ‘no lectures’ from Boris Johnson after ex-PM blasted ‘mad’ plan to expand hated ULEZ zone in rebellion against London Mayor’s war on motorists

• The ULEZ zone is to be expanded to cover the whole of London from August 29
• Mr Johnson urged people to stop Mr Khan’s ‘mad expansion plan’ in a video

Sadiq Khan has hit back at Boris Johnson’s criticism of the planned expansion of London’s ultra-low emissions zone saying he will ‘take no lectures’.

The ULEZ zone is due to be expanded to cover the whole of the capital from August 29 to boost air quality, with a £12.50 daily fee for vehicles not meeting minimum standards.

Mr Khan said he will take ‘no lectures’ from his predecessor as London mayor, Mr Johnson, who in a video posted on Twitter on Wednesday accused Mr Khan of expanding the scheme to ‘rake in money’ from motorists.

In the video, Mr Johnson urged people to stop Mr Khan’s ‘mad expansion plan’, which he labelled a ‘lefty tax on people’s lives and livelihoods’. 

‘He’s also the mayor who knew about nine-year-old Ella (Adoo-Kissi-Debrah), 10 years ago, losing her life and took no action.’ 

In the video, Mr Johnson urged people to stop Mr Khan’s ‘mad expansion plan’

The nine-year-old girl died in 2013 after an asthma attack brought on by exposure to London’s traffic emissions, and in a landmark coroner’s case was the first person to have air pollution listed as a cause of death at an inquest in the UK.

Mr Khan added: ‘He’s also the mayor who, when he became the prime minister, penalised London when it came to the deal with TfL (Transport for London).

‘So we’ll take no lectures from a former prime minister, the former mayor, who ignored the science and ignored the facts.’

Earlier, this month, the capital’s mayor wrote to the leaders of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon councils describing their grounds for a potential legal challenge to the measure as ‘wholly without merit and misconceived’.

Labour mayor Mr Khan dismissed opposition from local authorities as a ‘vocal minority’ on Thursday, and spoke of wanting to be on the ‘right side of history’.

Asked what he made of some Labour MPs also criticising the plan, Mr Khan said: ‘Evidence that this policy is not about party politics is the fact that it’s got some people are opposing it from the Labour Party as well as the Conservative Party.

‘It’s really important to recognise that actually, the evidence is unequivocal.’

The controversial expansion of the scheme to Outer London, set to be introduced in August, will drag millions more into its orbit in a bid to cut air pollution.

But Mr Johnson said: ‘You do not need an outer London emission zone – it’s inner London that has the emission problem.

Mr Khan said he will take ‘no lectures’ from his predecessor as London mayor

READ MORE: Fury at ‘out of touch’ Sadiq Khan over war on drivers 

‘You don’t need an ultra-low emission zone for the whole of London in the way Sadiq Khan is imposing one because by 2030 all new cars in this country are going to be much cleaner and greener anyway.

‘There’s only one reason why he’s doing it and that’s because he has bankrupted TfL by his mismanagement of the finances of London, and he wants to rake in money from motorists in Outer London and beyond in a way that is completely unreasonable and unnecessary for air quality.

‘So stop Khan’s mad ULEZ expansion plan, fight the outer London ULEZ, fight his plans to take money off hard-pressed motorists at a very, very difficult time, and stop this mad lefty tax on people’s lives and livelihoods.’

Elliot Colburn, MP for Carshalton and Wallington, told MailOnline: ‘I totally agree [that his focus should be elsewhere]. The problem with ULEZ and going after motorists in London is that there are much more pressing issues at the moment that require proper action. Despite falling crime rates nationally, London is still not seeing the benefit of it.

‘We have these Violence Reduction Units that do not appear to be achieving anything and he does not want to talk about that. Our teenagers are being stabbed on our streets and the Mayor is nowhere to be seen talking on those issues.’

Mr Colburn said he had been approached by a plethora of local business owners who face having to pass on the extra costs and lose customers.

Gareth Johnson, whose constituents in Dartford, Kent, would also be dragged into the zone, said: ‘There are loads of 20mph limits, cameras, the expansion of ULEZ – he is trying to make it as difficult as possible to drive in London.

‘It is not about air pollution otherwise he would ban all cars. He does not want to ban them, just make money. Provided you can pay £12.50 a day, you can drive as much as you like.

‘He is just trying to fix the black hole in his finances. It will be catastrophic for people in Dartford who need to go into London to help with public services. 

‘The border between London and Kent is at the end of some people’s roads. People will be hit hard by this.

‘If he is not making enough money, he will move the goalposts and increase the number of vehicles under the scheme. He has not got a mandate for this.’

Mr Johnson also warned of an ‘exodus’ of emergency service workers if Mr Khan proceeds with the plans.

He added: ‘He has got the Met and London Fire Brigade in special measures and yet he is pointing it in the direction of drivers rather than the problems London has.

‘Half of Met Police officers live outside of London. If they are doing a night shift then they will be hit twice by ULEZ.

‘There is going to be an exodus of police and emergency workers – it is as serious as that.’

Defending the plans previously, Mr Khan said ‘toxic air is a matter of life and death’.

Appearing on BBC London radio, he added: ‘In 10 or 20 years time people will look back at those opposing the ULEZ expansion and think they were on the wrong side of history. 

‘What is the price of a child losing their life prematurely? What is the price of around 4,000 premature deaths a year? What is the price of a mother having to do CPR on her daughter to bring her back to life? 

‘What is the price of children in our city having stunted lungs forever? What is the price of adults having illnesses directly attributable to air quality? We can do something about it and I think we should.’

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