Queue for website as ULEZ row rolls on and expansion comes into force across London
The expansion of the controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has come into force in London’s outer boroughs today – despite a political row rolling on between the city’s mayor and the government.
The zone – which charges motorists £12.50 a day if their car does not comply with emissions standards – now covers the outer boroughs of the capital, having previously just applied in central London.
Drivers are facing queues online in checking whether their cars are compliant with the scheme or not due to the high level of traffic going to Transport for London’s website.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan said extending the scheme amid a cost of living crisis had been “a difficult decision, but… a vital one”, telling Sky News it was “an issue of social justice to clean up the air in our great city”.
But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has joined his Conservative colleagues in condemning it, saying the charges were “going to hit working families”.
Politics live: Khan hits back at critics over ULEZ expansion
ULEZ was proposed by former London mayor (and now ex-prime minister) Boris Johnson and came into force in central London back in 2019 in an attempt to reduce harmful air pollution in the city’s busiest streets.
It was extended by Mr Khan in 2021 to cover inner London – up to the north and south circular roads – which led to a drastic reduction in toxic nitrogen dioxide concentrations, according to a City Hall report.
But the expansion of the scheme to cover all of London’s outer boroughs has caused uproar, with many blaming the policy for Labour’s loss in the Uxbridge and Ruislip by-election last month – a Tory seat that the governing party narrowly held on to due to anger from local residents over ULEZ.
Mr Khan’s plans also faced a legal challenge by five local authorities – Hillingdon, Bexley, Bromley and Harrow in London, plus Surrey County Council – but it failed and the High Court ruled the expansion lawful.
It means that the zone will now be taken up to London’s borders with Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Berkshire and Surrey.
Those who drive in the newly expanded zone in a vehicle that does not meet minimum emissions standards will need to pay £12.50 a day fee or risk a £180 fine, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.
TfL’s map showing the new ULEZ charging zone
Defending his plan on Sky News, Mr Khan said: “The evidence is quite clear in relation to the consequences of air pollution. It does lead to, in London, around 4,000 premature deaths a year. It leads to children having stunted lungs forever, adults with a whole host of health issues from asthma to cancer, dementia to heart disease.
“We have the ULEZ in central London and it’s managed to reduce the pollutants, the toxicity by almost 50%. A third fewer children admitted to hospital with air pollution problems because of the ULEZ in central London.
“But also the science shows that the 10 boroughs with the largest number of premature deaths is, guess where? In outer London. Look at those with illnesses in London linked with air pollution, more than two thirds live in, guess where? Outer London.
“They’ve not seen the benefits of ULEZ. After today, they will.”
But Mr Sunak told reporters the expansion was a mistake that would hit people in the pocket.
“I think people and families are struggling with the cost of living, that is obvious to everyone,” he said. “And at that time, the Labour Party, the Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan and [Labour leader Sir] Keir Starmer are introducing the ULEZ charge which is going to hit working families.
“I don’t think that’s the right priority, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do and I wish they hadn’t done it.”
Read more:
ULEZ: Where is the new border?
Khan’s office accused of ‘cosy relationship’ to ‘silence’ ULEZ criticism
Earlier, Transport Secretary Mark Harper also attacked the roll-out, telling Sky News: “People can see it for what it is. It’s a scheme to charge hard-pressed motorists more money for making essential journeys and it will have almost no appreciable on air quality.”
But Mr Khan defended his stance, saying: “I’m pragmatic. I’m not evangelical… I can see the evidence in relation to the consequences of air pollution, but also [the evidence that] ULEZ works.
“And actually I think Londoners want to see clean air in our city. They want to see their leaders taking bold action.
“What they don’t want is politicians, for short term political gain, playing politics with public health and the climate emergency.“
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
July: ULEZ ‘landmark decision is good news’
To curb some of the opposition, the London mayor announced last month that the scrappage scheme will be extended to all Londoners through a £160m fund.
Applicants with a wheelchair-accessible car or van can get up to £5,000, while drivers of a standard car can receive up to £2,000 to scrap their vehicle. Motorcycle riders can also receive up to £1,000 for scrapping their bike.
Charities, traders and businesses can apply for larger grants to scrap, retrofit or replace a van or minibus.
Previously, grants to scrap a non-compliant car and replace it with a new one were only available to child benefit recipients, disabled people and those on low incomes.
City Hall says 90% of cars seen driving in outer London on an average day are already compliant.
It has also received more than 15,000 applications in the last week alone, while nearly £60m has already been committed in advance of the expansion to people, charities and businesses who want to scrap or retrofit their vehicles.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
How air pollution could impact dementia sufferers
Sir Keir Starmer has also come under pressure to demand that Mr Khan delay extending the zone, with Mr Harper urging the Labour leader to make his position on ULEZ “clear”.
The transport secretary told Sky News: “The government doesn’t support [the expansion] but I don’t have the legal power to block it. It’s a decision by the Labour mayor, backed by the leader.
“The only person that can block it now is either if the mayor doesn’t roll it out or the Labour leader threatens to de-select him if he goes ahead with it. And neither of those things have happened.”
In response, a Labour source said: “The Conservatives are desperately hoping that the public forgets that clean air zones are their government’s own policy, and that a Tory mayor created ULEZ.
“They’ve hammered motorists and stood idle while petrol prices soared, car insurance rocketed, and fewer potholes get fixed.”
Prosecutors are considering whether to bring further criminal charges against Lucy Letby over the deaths of babies at two hospitals where she worked
The Crown Prosecution Service said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.
“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.
“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”
Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.
Letby worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital
She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.
Police said in December that Letby was interviewed in prison as part of an investigation into more baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary has submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS for charging advice regarding the ongoing investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital as part of Operation Hummingbird.”
Detectives previously said the investigation was looking into the full period of time that Letby worked as a nurse, covering the period from 2012 to 2016 and including a review of 4,000 admissions of babies.
Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald said: “The evidence of the innocence of Lucy Letby is overwhelming,” adding: “We will cross every bridge when we get to it but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution’s unfounded allegations.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Three managers at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in a separate investigation.
Read more from Sky News:
‘Catastrophic failure’ that led to Heathrow power outage revealed
Man charged with murder of 93-year-old woman in Cornwall
Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.
There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.
A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.
In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.
Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.
In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.
Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
A power outage that shut Heathrow Airport earlier this year, causing travel chaos for more than 270,000 passengers, was caused by a “catastrophic failure” of equipment in a nearby substation, according to a new report.
Experts say the fire at the North Hyde Substation, which supplies electricity to Heathrow, started following the failure of a high-voltage electrical insulator known as a bushing, before spreading.
The failure was “most likely” caused by moisture entering the equipment, according to the report.
Two chances were also missed that could have prevented the failure, experts found, the first in 2018 when a higher-than-expected level of moisture was found in oil samples.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Moment Heathrow substation ignites
Such a reading meant “an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced”, according to guidance by the National Grid Electricity Transmission.
However, the report by National Energy System Operator (NESO) said the appropriate responses to such a serious issue were “not actioned”, including in 2022 when basic maintenance was postponed.
“The issue therefore went unaddressed,” the report added.
The design and configuration of the airport’s internal power network meant the loss of just one of its three supply points would “result in the loss of power to operationally critical systems, leading to a suspension of operations for a significant period”, the report added.
Heathrow – which is Europe’s biggest airport – closed for around 16 hours on 21 March following the fire, before reopening at about 6pm.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Heathrow bosses were ‘warned about substation’
Around 1,300 flights were cancelled and more than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted.
Tens of millions of pounds were lost, thousands of passengers were stranded, and questions were raised about the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure.
More than 71,000 domestic and commercial customers lost power as a result of the fire and the resulting power outage, the report said.
NEOS chief executive, Fintan Slye, said there “wasn’t the control within their [National Grid’s] asset management systems that identified that this [elevated moisture levels] got missed.
“They identified a fault, [but] for some reason the transformer didn’t immediately get pulled out of service and get repaired.
“There was no control within the system that looked back and said ‘oh, hang on a second, you forgot to do this thing over here’.”
Sky’s science and technology editor, Tom Clarke, pointed to the age of the substation’s equipment, saying “some of these things are getting really very old now, coming to the end of their natural lives, and this is an illustration of what can happen if they are not really well maintained”.
The report also highlights a lack of joined-up thinking, he said, as “grid operators don’t know who’s critical national infrastructure on the network, and they don’t have priority”.
Responding to the report’s findings, a Heathrow spokesperson said: “A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid’s failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.
“We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn’t repeated.
“Our own Review, led by former Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly, identified key areas for improvement and work is already underway to implement all 28 recommendations.”
In May, Ms Kelly’s investigation revealed that the airport’s chief executive couldn’t be contacted as the crisis unfolded because his phone was on silent.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who commissioned the NESO report, called it “deeply concerning”, because “known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission”.
Read more on Sky News:
Starmer ‘faced down his MPs and lost’
Partial verdict in Diddy trial
Concern for player safety at Euros
Mr Miliband said energy regulator Ofgem, which opened an investigation on Wednesday after the report was published, is investigating “possible licence breaches relating to the development and maintenance of its electricity system at North Hyde.
“There are wider lessons to be learned from this incident. My department, working across government, will urgently consider the findings and recommendations set out by NESO and publish a response to the report in due course.”
The Metropolitan Police previously confirmed on 25 March that officers had “found no evidence to suggest that the incident was suspicious in nature”.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike