Labour’s Amendment waters down Havering Council’s ULEZ opposition.

Ben Suter Vice Chair of Romford Young Conservatives today writes in the Havering Daily:

Last week the Labour group, supported by the Havering Residents Association, passed an amendment which I believe waters down opposition to this ULEZ expansion from Havering Council.

Our motion stated that Havering Council would oppose ULEZ by ‘all means within our power’. Labour’s amendment removed this part of the motion and replaced it with Havering Council will ‘make representations to TFL’. Labour’s amendment allows for weak opposition from the Council and allows ULEZ to come through the backdoor and damage the lives of thousands in Havering. 

Both Labour and the Havering Residents Association made it clear that they oppose ULEZ so why not ‘by all means within our power’? This can only indicate that Labour and their Havering Residents Association allies are not ready to oppose ULEZ ‘by all means’ within their power.

Labour councillor Jane Keane stated that she “doesn’t support ULEZ, not now”. Why not ever?

Havering has seen a decrease of areas over the legal limit for pollution – from 16 in 2017 to just 5 in 2022. Huge progress is being made without ULEZ, so these statistics point out that this is just a money grab from Mayor Khan to spend Outer London’s money on Inner London.

Many residents in Havering who do not have an exempt vehicle will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive their vehicle and, in a 5-day working week, £62.50 a week. At the end of the year, that will cost residents £3,000. This affects our charities, our tradesmen, our carers and our NHS Heroes.

Councillor Keane may not support ULEZ now, but what about when herself and her colleagues do? Havering residents will have to fork out £3,000 a year to drop their children to school, to go to work and to visit their family members. 

Thanks to initiatives by this Havering Conservative group looking out for residents, Havering now officially opposes the ULEZ expansion, which is a step in the right direction.