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Labor has blamed the narrow defeat in Boris Johnson’s former constituency on London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plans to expand London’s ultra-low emission zones (Ures).
Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell defeated Labor’s Danny Beals by just 495 votes in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-elections and criticized Mr Khan’s policies to be implemented next month in his victory speech.
“It’s because of his harmful and expensive Urez policy that he lost them in this election,” he said.
“This was not the election campaign Labour had hoped for. Kia Sturmer and his mayor, Sadiq Khan, need to stand up and listen to the people of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.”
Labor Mayor Khan plans to triple the size of the Clean Air Zone from 29 August, meaning millions of Londoners with non-compliant cars will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in the capital.
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Reiner said Labor’s stance on the Ures expansion was a factor in the defeat.
“Uxbridge’s decision was related to Ulles… Uxbridge’s results show that you can’t win an election if you don’t listen to your voters,” she said. BBC news.
So did Labor Shadow Attorney General Steve Reed, who said: PA News agency: “I think there are a lot of issues involved, but certainly many voters have told us that they are very concerned about Ures.
“Everyone wants to see clean air, but given that for some people the economy is in turmoil because of the Conservative Party’s collapse of the economy and the Tory-fueled cost-of-living crisis, I think now is the wrong time to introduce charges against Ures.”
Mr Beals, the Labor candidate in the Uxbridge by-election, opposed expanding Urez’s business during the election campaign, saying at a hasting earlier this month that it was “not the right time” to expand the business.
Although he has spoken out against the policy before, he told the Hastings that he had “hundreds of conversations on our doorsteps” from residents worried about upgrading their cars or paying their per diem.
“That’s the message I deliver: community first, political parties second,” he added.
Labor leader Sir Keir Sturmer declined to say whether he would support the policy in an interview with the newspaper. BBC Early this month.
Asked if he supported Mr Khan’s policies, the mayor said he was trying to meet his legal obligation to cut emissions, while Mr Beals said he represented future voters.
The Uless Zone will be extended to Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and the London border in August.
The scheme, introduced in 2019, will charge drivers with diesel vehicles over 7 years old or petrol vehicles over 17 years old a fee of £12.50 per day. Failure to pay the fee will result in a fine of up to £180.
The Ures Zone was finally extended to the border of London’s North and South Ring Roads in 2021.