Downing Street was blocked from overruling Sadiq Khan’s upcoming ULEZ expansion after government lawyers reportedly warned any efforts would be tossed out in the courts. According to the Telegraph, ahead of the expansion next week, Number 10 considered relying on a little-known part of the 1999 Greater London Authority Act to argue the move was “inconsistent with national policies relating to transport”. The government’s learned friends said that was doomed to fail, because the government itself is advocating green policies that somehow are not “inconsistent” with ULEZ. Is Rishi aware he still currently has a massive majority in the Commons for this sort of problem?
Meanwhile it’s full steam ahead for Sadiq. Despite reports his deputy mayor Shirley Rodrigues tried to discredit Imperial College scientists who found that the ULEZ will have next to no impact on pollution – what a surprise that is – the expansion is set for the 29th of this month. Time to cough up…
Sadiq Khan’s latest attempt to try to ingratiate himself with the increasingly disruptive eco-loony movement is to announce that he’ll be closing 20 kilometres of roads across London for an entire “car-free day” in September. The man whose job is literally to keep the roads open is closing them for a publicity stunt…
Instead of inconveniencing millions of Londoners to virtue signal to people who glue themselves to trains, Sadiq could start by reining in his own Deputy Mayor for Environment, Shirley Rodrigues, who turns out to be rather fond of overseas jaunts on Mayoral business. Since being appointed in 2016, Rodrigues has racked up over 54,000 air miles on numerous long-haul trips to far-flung destinations including Mexico City, Bengaluru, San Francisco and three trips to New York, pumping out over 14 tonnes of CO2 in the process. As usual it’s one rule for our pious eco-overlords, another rule for the rest of us…
