London mayor Sadiq Khan’s office accused of ‘alarmingly cosy relationship’ to ‘silence’ ULEZ criticism
Sadiq Khan’s deputy and a scientist the mayor’s office helps to fund have been accused of working together in an attempt to criticise research that questioned the effectiveness of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Emails obtained by the Conservative Party under the Freedom of Information Act showed Professor Frank Kelly of Imperial College London and deputy mayor for the environment, Shirley Rodrigues, apparently working together to “fight back” against research published and publicised by the same university.
The ULEZ and its expansions are becoming key political dividing lines between the Conservatives and Labour, and were part of the reason the Tories held on to Boris Johnson’s former seat in west London in a by-election earlier this year.
Prof Kelly is an expert on public health policy and air quality.
He is also the director of the Environmental Research Group (ERG), a body which provides air quality information and research in the UK, which has received hundreds of thousands of pounds from the mayor’s office, among other sources.
According to the Greater London Authority, £757,000 over four years was the “vast majority” of the money provided – and was used for the Breathe London project, which involves installing air quality monitors across the capital.
The Conservatives have accused Prof Kelly and Mr Khan‘s office of having “an alarmingly cosy relationship”.
Sadiq Khan says the ULEZ expansion is good for London
Their main accusation stems from the response by Prof Kelly and Ms Rodrigues to a study published by Imperial in 2021, which examined the impact of the ULEZ over a period of 12 weeks.
Emails show the mayor’s office – including Ms Rodrigues – contacted Prof Kelly in the wake of this study being published and reported on to “challenge some of the misunderstandings” in it.
The mayor’s office apparently took issue with the limited period of time over which the study was conducted.
Prof Kelly told the Labour mayor’s team his university “is not keen for us to put a direct contradiction” out in the media – but he was happy to “fight back”, according to the emails.
The mayor’s office also offered to put Prof Kelly in touch with senior Labour figure David Lammy for a “friendly” interview on the London MP’s radio show.
Deputy mayor Shirley Rodrigues in 2019
‘Khan conspired to silence research’
Peter Fortune, a Conservative member of the Greater London Assembly, said: “Science relies on open, transparent debate.
“It is unacceptable that Sadiq Khan and his deputy conspired to silence legitimate research because it would damage the mayor’s reputation and credibility.
“Sadiq Khan has claimed he is just following the science, yet he has been using scientific advisors to protect his own interests.
“The mayor’s own independent impact assessment shows the ULEZ expansion will have a negligible effect on air quality, while hitting the poorest Londoners hardest.
“That is why we need to tackle air pollution where it is, instead of taxing where it isn’t.”
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‘Normal and proper’ to work with experts
A spokesperson for the mayor said: “It is right – and standard practice across government – that we commission experts to carry out research to inform the work we do.
“Frank Kelly and the Environmental Research Group at Imperial are some of the world-leading academic institutions looking at air quality.
“It is normal and proper to work with these experts to ensure our policies are as effective as possible at dealing with issues such as the high number of deaths – up to 4,000 a year – linked to toxic air in London every year.”
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The statement added: “The ULEZ analysis from the engineering department at Imperial only paints a partial picture, not accounting for the full lifetime impact of the scheme, and only focusing on its immediate impact around its launch.
“It is commonplace for academic experts to disagree with how other academic studies are interpreted, as was the case here.”
In what he said would be his last remarks as CFTC chair, Rostin Behnam said he intended to advocate for the commission to address regulatory challenges over digital assets.
A Tory bid to launch a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal has been voted down by MPs amid criticism of “political game playing”.
MPs rejected the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill by 364 to 111, a majority of 253.
However, even if the Commons had supported the measure, it wouldn’t have actually forced the government to open the desired inquiry, due to parliamentary procedure.
Instead, it would have killed the government’s legislation, the aim of which is to reform things like the children’s care system and raise educational standards in schools.
Follow politics latest: Reaction to vote
Tonight’s vote was largely symbolic – aimed at putting pressure on Labour following days of headlines after comments by Elon Musk brought grooming gangs back into the spotlight.
The world’s richest man has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, after she rejected a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, saying this should be done at a local level instead.
The Tories also previously said an Oldham inquiry should be done locally and in 2015 commissioned a seven-year national inquiry into child sex abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay, which looked at grooming gangs.
However, they didn’t implement any of its recommendations while in office – and Sir Keir has vowed to do so instead of launching a fresh investigation into the subject.
Jess Phillips exclusive:
Victims can have inquiry if they want one
The division list showed no Labour MPs voted in favour of the Conservative amendment.
Those who backed the proposal include all of Reform’s five MPs and 101 Tory MPs – though some senior figures, including former prime minister Rishi Sunak and former home secretaries James Cleverly and Suella Braverman, were recorded as not voting.
The Liberal Democrats abstained.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub before the vote, education minister Stephen Morgan condemned “political game playing”.
“What we’re seeing from the Conservatives is a wrecking amendment which would basically allow this bill not to go any further,” he said.
“That’s political game playing and not what I think victims want. Victims want to see meaningful change.”
As well as the Jay review, a number of local inquiries were also carried out, including in Telford and Rotherham.
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Grooming gangs: What happened?
Speaking earlier in the day at PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer accused Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch of “jumping on the bandwagon” after Mr Musk’s intervention and spreading “lies and misinformation”.
Referring to her time in government as children’s and equalities minister, the prime minister said: “I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry.”
He also said having spoken to victims of grooming gangs this morning, “they were clear they want action now, not the delay of a further inquiry”.
Ms Badenoch has argued that the public will start to “worry about a cover-up” if the prime minister resists calls for a national inquiry, and said no one has yet “joined up the dots” on grooming.
Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns in England – including Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford – over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.
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