John Kay skewers Mark Harper on BBC Breakfast
John Kay skewers Mark Harper on BBC Breakfast
A Conservative minister fumed after a BBC presenter exposed the Tories’ hypocrisy over London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Transport Secretary Mark Harper was skewered by John Kay on the day the controversial scheme was expanded across the capital.
The Tories have criticized the decision by Sadiq Khan, the Labor mayor of London.
But this morning on BBC Breakfast, Harper was told that ULEs were originally the brainchild of Boris Johnson when he had a job as a miner in 2015.
Kay told him: “Millions of people are waking up this morning inside the ULEZ charging zone in London.
“I just want to read you a quote from the Mayor of London: ‘The world’s first ULEZ zone is an essential measure to help improve the air quality in our city and protect the health of Londoners.’
“That was the Conservative Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London. It was basically a conservative policy, no matter how critical you are of it now.
Harper replied: “No, the expansion of the ULEZ zone to cover the whole of Greater London is a decision by Labor Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is supported by the Labor leader.
“If you look at the mayor’s own impact assessment, it will have a slight to negligible impact on air quality. So it is very clear, despite what the Mayor may say, this is not about improving the air quality in Greater London, it is about them raising money from Londoners.
Kay then pointed out that the expansion of ULEs out of central London was supported by Grant Shapps, Harper’s predecessor as transport secretary during the pandemic.
He added: “It wasn’t just Boris Johnson though, was it? Former Conservative Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, your predecessor in your job, he wanted the congestion charge to be expanded to London three years ago.
But Harper hit back: “No he didn’t, it was introduced by the Labor Party. This was about the expansion of the ULEZ in the North and South London Circular Area, a manifesto commitment by the Mayor.
“The Government does not support the introduction of ULEs across Greater London – we have been very clear about this.”
Under the ULEZ, drivers of polluting vehicles are charged £12.50 a day.
Khan has insisted that its expansion is necessary to improve air quality across London.
However, the move was blamed for Labor’s failure to win the recent Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-elections, prompting Keir Starmer to urge the mayor to reconsider the policy.
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