Decisions like this show the current Government are now a dictatorship.

Its one which affects millions and should be consulted upon, just as extending the zone west was and then not implemented.

Time for a Judicial Review to be launched, before the dictators new laws which remove that as an option to challenge Government decisions.

>I think you'll find it's the government that is insisting that "Citizen Khan" extends the zone and that he doesn't want to do it. Even the Daily Mail doesn't have your version of the story.

I think you will find that Khan is simply playing politics, pretending he is "bravely resisting" extending the congestion charge zone when there is no such demand on the table, just an option, along with others, for him to come up with the funding for the TfL bailout.

I do find it amausing that Citizen Khan and his TfL cronies are going for this, given it'll drive up 'infection' rates by forcing more people onto public transport,

The ULEZ is intended to improve local air quality. It's not a policy of Sadiq Khan alone; the conception was during Boris Johnson's time as mayor.

If that was the case, why didn't he extend it before? WHy not ban all cars from London? Is it because 99% of the most polluting vehicles are commercial ones, needed to keep the city alive, and cars owned by the poorest, who can't afford to change?

Do you or do you not believe that removing NOx from the air is important?

Yes, but doing so by penalising the poor and middle classes is not the way. Yet another straw man argument to distract from the issue at hand. I thought you would've been fine about less affluent people being safer in their cars than catching COVID on buses and the Tube? Turnabout is fair, eh?

The original Congestion charge was easily defined to cut traffic (and make a few bob) around the West End and the City of London, and I avoided it as I didn't need to go there.

Political reasons aside, the extension and the ULEZ are sensible.

It IS a crying shame that there is such a major health Pandemic at the moment, but the plan was always to extend outwards.

A London centric scrappage scheme to help the neediest as regards ULEZ would help and making the whole thing cover a few less hours would help some people.

Or £5 a day in the new outer region rising annually to get to the full charge in 5 years?

Is this pollution overstated? Particularly that modern engines both petrol and diesel are many times cleaner than in the past?

"In their practices and clinics, pulmonary physicians see [deaths caused by cigarette smoke] on a daily basis; however, deaths caused by particulate matter and NOx, even after careful investigation, never," write the pulmonary physicians in their counterposition.

www.dw.com/en/nitrogen-oxide-is-it-really-that-dan...6

They got drivers to reduce emmissions, as London was facing issues with poor air quality, but the Sadiq Khan gave the green light for London City Airport to expand. Any improvement from drivers buying cleaner cars, is offset by rising aviation.

The Government gave the green light for Heathrow's third runway. Most of the demand, is from oveaseas traveller changign planes at Heathrow. They built a cruise terminal in London Greenwich, which lets cruise ship chug out smoke 24/7, whilst docked. A car driver, will be if their car was idling.

Any improvements in CO2 reduction or air quality is gazzumped by favoured industries.

None of that is true; the impact of aviation or cruise ships on air quality inside the N/S Circular roads is nugatory,.

As it is about NOx it does need proper review and implementation. Leeds has a ULEZ and charging was due to be implemented to certain classes of vehicles. It suffered delays for a number of reasons, but was due to come into force this year.

Covid saw a huge reduction in traffic and therefore NOx levels reduced, but this had to be disregarded.

However the threat of a ULEZ and offer of grants to companies affected to upgrade to exempt classes of vehicle means in the 2-3 years since it was announced a huge number of polluting vehicles (especially buses and older diesel taxis) have been replaced to modern vehicles. Leeds Council do not now expect the city centre to exceed permissable levels of NOx so the charging scheme has been shelved.

The same analysis is needed in London to prove the case for charging over a wider area.

Is Leeds putting in Cycle lanes on major routes and roads that are not meant for Cycle lanes, doing so although not mentioned, is causing more pollution because traffic is held up longer in places where it was free to move

in some places the cycle lanes are not being used but causing traffic holdups due to lane loss, if it was not for these lanes -pollution would more than likely be less than it has been due to traffic being static more than it used to be, all because TFL are trying to stop motors going through London at a rate that will help prevent pollution

If I recall, TfL did the same with traffic light phasing to pretend congestion was worse than it was - some time ago now (during Livingstone's 'reign'), to justify hikes in the congestion charge and to extend the zone

When I've been working in London, as a pedestrian I encountered more dangerous situations crossing the road with cyclists (many of whom completely disobeyed the law/highway code) than with drivers.

TBH, the actions of many a pedestrian were outright dangerous - not because they were fed up with not being able to cross the road due to heavy traffic, etc, but taking risks to shave a few seconds off their journey or not being attentive, often engrossed in their mobile phone.

Traffic, and as a consequence pollution, would be far less congested and lower respectively if sensible policies were inacted rather than those for ideological reasons against X or Y or by jobsworths trying to justify their lofty positions and high salaries on the public purse.

Just a little thought.

All those HGVs delivering to and from inside the North/South circulars, Taxi drivers taking passengers in?

Extra costs for everyone.

As I predicted, unfortunately the truth will be ignored by those interested only in promoting their prejudices.

Err no - it's the treasury - which as you well know is not the same as the Chancellor or government. Besides - Khan WANTS it to go ahead, but for someone else to be blamed for enacting it.

Are you seriously saying that the Treasury acts independently of Ministerial control? And then does so on an issue that could determine an election for the capital's mayor?.

And whose fault was that? I know from personal experience working alongside Tfl that huge amounts of money have been wasted over the decades by them as well as the DfT at governmental level. Rarely (and sadly) have ministers been in control of big spend projects.

I'm not sure how many decades TfL has existed. London Transport in one form or another has been a political football since the sixties (as far back as my memory goes) and probably further. Crossrail is a huge part of its problems and only a very small part of that has been on Khan's watch.

I somehow doubt if the BBC could be relied upon to properly investigate this all and come up with an unbiased account.

More or Less is well respected by statisticians for explaining how the numbers play.

I believe you mean 'in your opinion'. Any facts (and by the way, quoting a sympathetic media outlet, BBC included, isn't) to support that claim?

I'm waiting for the facts to emerge.

Don't forget that Khan has been actively campaigning for ongoing NATIONAL lockdowns (in support of the Labour front bench, who stated that they might be extended indefinitely despite there being no cause to denact them at all) which would bankrupt the nation and casue far more deaths than COVID ever will.

There's a debate to be had over whether the various restrictions in tiers 1-3 in England or those enacted by the devolved governments are a viable strategy and what alternatives might be viable.

The current contention between government and opposition is about that patchwork of local restrictions v a short sharp and nationwide 'circuit breaker;. The latter was proposed by the scientists 4 weeks ago and over ruled. Leicester and parts of the North West have been under restriction for months to no avail.

Let's see how the Welsh circuit breaker Guinea Pigs go on between now and 09/11/2020, then after for breaking the link.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 22/10/2020 at 22:02