Khan defends Ulez expansion after facing hammering in public debate

London’s mayor says his “record-breaking” election victory meant voters backed last year’s expansion of Ulez to cover the whole of the capital, local democracy reporter Noah Vickers reports.

Sadiq Khan faced anti-Ulez naysayers on the ‘State of London Debate’ on Thursday (20) as he claimed Londoners had backed the clean air zone by re-electing him.

The mayor told Londoners at the annual event that his “record” victory in last month’s mayoral election meant they had effectively voted to keep the extended ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ).

He has also faced questions about whether he will introduce a ‘pay-per-mile’ road user charging system once Ulez revenue runs out – an option Khan explicitly ruled out in his manifesto in 2024.

After a member of the public began shouting that the mayor was “ruining London” by charging non-compliant vehicles £12.50 a day, Khan said: “In the election on May 2, (Ulez was) the number one issue he state Conservative Party – and by the way, the Reform party – was the number one problem and the only problem. Leaflets were delivered throughout the city.

“They wanted the May 2 elections to be a referendum on Ulez. That was the problem and let me tell you that the Londoners gave me a record win that made history on May 2nd.

“Now you either believe in democracy, sir, or you don’t, and this great country of ours believes in democracy—I’m not sure about you.”

The Labor mayor beat his Tory challenger Susan Hall by 275,828 votes – the largest margin of victory in the mayor’s history.

Khan extended Ulez to cover the whole of London in August 2023. But ten months on, and despite the pushback, the mayor continues to face questions about whether he will create new road charges.

A woman at the debate asked him: “What are you going to do for money when you get all the older cars and vulnerable drivers off the road?

“You promise you don’t pay by the mile, but you also promised you didn’t promise the Ulez extension and forget what happened there. Businesses destroyed, lives, especially the elderly and vulnerable. Can we believe anything you say when it comes to road transport?”

In 2021, Khan said he had “no plans” to expand Ulez to the whole of London, before announcing such plans in 2022.

The mayor responded by saying that 95% of vehicles seen driving on a typical day in London are now compliant, meaning they “don’t pay a penny but see the benefits of cleaner air”.

He added that he had boosted the Ulez scrapping scheme by tens of millions of pounds and said London’s roadside emissions had halved under his mayoralty.

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