Last week, we told you how Bristol is looking to ban cars from the city centre, seemingly in a desperate move to avoid paying back £1million of government money; it’s becoming no surprise that ‘radical’ measures are being touted by most authorities as a way to tackle air pollution and congestion.
That’s all well and good, until we replace ‘radical’ with ‘desperate’, which seems nearer the truth. Thursday 20th June 2019 was national ‘Clean Air Day’, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan wasn’t going to miss out on the action, surely this could be another great demonstration of his commitment to cleaning up the city?
Reimagine
Mayor Khan took the opportunity to announce that on Sunday 22nd September, there would be no cars allowed in the City of London, a complete ban including taxis. “We’ve called our range of events ‘Reimagine’ so that Londoners get an idea of what some of the busiest parts of our city would be like without cars or traffic, and let them reclaim the streets and allow for children to play freely and communities to enjoy parties in their areas”.
While that sounds all very admirable, and actually a nice thing to do as a one-off; families being able to enjoy the City of London with entertainment such as live music, guided walks, pop-up playgrounds and street performers, the question that has to be asked, is whether Khan has a vision for the future with this?
Worryingly, Silviya Barett, the transport research manager at the Centre for London warned that “one day of action will only go so far – we need to lock-in car-free lifestyles for good. The Mayor should introduce city-wide charging schemes which charges drivers per-mile on the most congested and polluted roads”. That sounds pretty ominous for the motorist.
Over 12 miles
In total, there will be around 12.5 miles that will be closed to all transport, including Tower Bridge, but there will be a bus service crossing London Bridge on the day, and so far, 18 different boroughs have signed up to the car-free day, all pledging to do something to mark the day.
Again, that’s all fluffy kittens, but what of the businesses affected by the closure? Taxi drivers, in particular, are going to be hit hard, the elderly and disabled won’t benefit from having free access to the road surface, traffic is likely to be in more chaos than usual, and if you need to get from one side of the city to the other, how will that work?
Could this be classed as another ‘radical’ approach to congestion and pollution? Is this yet another attack on the innocent motorist going about their business? Will it actually make a difference to the pollution?
Keith Prince, Greater London Authority Conservative Transport spokesman is quite vocal – “Londoners want cleaner air, but car-free days risk travel chaos if managed poorly, all while doing little to tackle the air pollution problem”. It’s the last few words of that sentence that are important – it won’t really tackle the air pollution problem.
Future shut-downs
If this had been addressed as a ‘family day’ or suchlike, there would less of an outcry and perhaps a little more support for the idea, but the fact that it’s being touted as a possible way to help with the pollution problem, it’s easy to see that this is just the first step to something bigger.
We’re being warned that we should get used to living a car-free existence, or at least pay the (not insubstantial) price for the privilege of owning and using a vehicle, and although we’ve been watching it coming over the last few years, with the introduction of congestion zones, ULEZs and ridiculous parking charges (more so if you happen to drive a diesel), the reality is that it’s perhaps closer than we thought.
Of course no one is denying that air pollution is a problem that has to be tackled, but crucifying the private motorist with taxes and inconvenience can only go so far, and the bigger picture is that cities will become places of no-go areas for the motorist – just as we’ve seen with out-of-town retail parks increasing their footfall, as large cities lose the equivalent amount. And that’s before we get to any financial impact on the businesses affected by the loss of traffic.
Schemes like car-free days could work in conjunction with other measures, but they can’t be the only, single solution; Keith Prince: “Instead of virtue signalling, the Mayor should focus on cleaning up TfL’s bus fleet to improve air quality”.
What do you think to a car-free day? Is this something that’s just another inconvenience to the motorist? Or will it be part of something bigger? Let us know in the comments.
FFS what a load of nonsense. The so called politicians in the UK seem intent on destroying our economy such as it is. China, the USA, India, Russia and every other global power are laughing down their sleeve at the UK. Stop penalising our businesses and population in an attempt to sound green. Give us a f**king break. Most of us are sick to the back teeth with electric this and green that. Sod off. Leave us alone to get on with the miserable existence you have created for us in this s**thole of a country. The UK is a laughing stock all around the world. And with the clowns that are in charge at the moment it ain’t gonna get any better. Time for change !
You voted these b———-s into power time and time again
True, a lot of people must have voted for Mr Khan. I think the TV version of him could do a better job.
There’s no TV version of him , let’s keep it real now
mate, you can’t eat money !! all your talk of businesses and economy will mean nothing when you preside over your family dying early of lung disease and cancer. think you should have a think about how you are coming across here
Well said
If things are as bad as you pretend them to be, what little difference our contribution will be is minimal. What about the Amazon Forest? What about the Philipines and Indonesian plastic pollution? Leave Britain alone, we have done our bit.
Mate, we started the industrial revolution. Our carbon footprint was the highest of any nation from then until the USA took in 1911. Our cumulative emissions dwarf those of Brazil and India which are much larger and more populous. And our emissions today are roughly the same as Brazil’s. Per capita we each use 2 ½ times more than a Brazilian and 3 ½ times as much as an Indian. You can check all the facts here: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions
So we’ve done more than our bit to cause this existential problem. If we want our kids to have a chance of a halfway decent life, we’ve got to do a lot more. It will make the world more beautiful. It’s an exciting thing to come together around, something to give meaning to our lives. To show leadership too to those other countries you’re worrying about if you like. I hope you’ll join the epic fight, the biggest humanity has ever faced. We can do it, it’s empowering to believe that and not to give into despair.
We are the ones shipping the plastics to the Philippines, it is our waste that they are having to live with, in illegal sites that are destroying the ecosystem!
And those in charge have sti[[ got their priorities totally WRONG. They’ve cluttered up London with everything else, BUT only Now can Thames Water get the new West to East sewer built. I hope those in Westminster drown in their own s**t first !
You do know there are quite a few ways to die early
India a global power ??? Look at the poverty levels, crumbling infrastructure , lack of health /education for the masses., need I go on …….??
And yet India are sending up rockets into space that’s poverty for you, yet another dodgy government
And guess who is funding India’s Spaceflight ambitions with taxes that should be going to support Care for our own elderly and disabled.
The DWP and ATOS would disagree with you on that point
Yes , you did ask
Planet before profit, great stuff. Switch to electric or hybrid or get left behind dinosaurs.
My beef on this point is just how expensive they are, I certainly could not afford to change to electric, though I am a great supporter of acting now to make a safer future for our children/grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc. Only the wealthy will be able to carry on using their electric cars, the rest of us wont be able to afford them – always the less well off who pay the price. I am sick and disheartened by the ever growing wealth gap in this country -.
If you use a old car for ten years it is already much greener than any electric. The energy to produce it and the rare earth metals for its battery’s. then how do you dispose of the battery when depleted.
I absolutely agree with Richard, it’s about time somebody spoke some common sense!
Hear hear. I have been putting forward this view for a long time. The saying that says take the log out of the eye before the splinter. The UK must be seen as a joke in other countries. We are cutting back on our pollution, but it is being over shadowed by other countries output such as the USA who have 20 times the pollution factor and increasing all the time. Wake up UK for gods sake and pressure other countries not us
they Dare not Pressure other countries ,it’s easier to oppress us.
If our country isn’t good enough for you, you can live elsewhere. A lot of people think cleaner air is a good idea.
Let’s start a REVOLUTION!
Could not agree more
By the way. Do our so called statistics include all the litter EVERYWHERE and fly tipping because it’s easier to get into Fort Knox than your local tip
It will be a ‘transport free day’ judging by South Western Railway’s performance on a Sunday!
It sounds as if even electric vehicles are to be targeted, so this is not about air quality. Reclaim the streets suggests roads have not always been used by wheeled vehicles which is of course untrue because roads were built in the first place to enable wheeled vehicles [horse drawn] to be used but it is also a complete disregard for roads as a vital means of transportation.. What about the disabled, many of whom rely on roads to even leave their home? It is time there was a common sense resistance to this new environmental religion that knows no limits as to what it would impose upon us.
Carbon dioxide is the gas of life. Without it plants die. How long before the religious environmentalists decide to tax us on how much carbon dioxide we exhale? How about a baby tax? Tax breaks for euthanising your parents?
Good idea, a free day off work?
We’ll soon be back on horses………then someone will complain about the poop everywhere!
Ha ha at least that’s biodegradable 🙂
Not with all the chemicals in it , it’s not
Horses pasting wind is a greenhouse gas so is humans
Geoff, horses , other animals even humans farting is minimal even cows farting isn’t that significant to air pollution, but a cow burping every few minutes per cow is, its worse, but I don’t believe even this is the be all and end all of the problem. cutting down all the trees is.
OXFORD STREET IN LONDON WAS THE ROUTE CATTLE WERE DRIVEN DOWN TO REACH SMITHFIELD MARKET FOR SLAUGHTER. HOWEVER THE RICH PEOPLE LIVING THERE COMPLAINED SO MUCH ABOUT THE METHANE COWS PASSED THEY WERE DIVERTE ALONG MARYLEBONE ROAD TO ALEVIATE THE SITUATION. SO MUCH FOR BEING MINIMAL.
Some people like that sort of thing
They did, in the 1890s etc, when they removed 25 ton of the stuff off Londons streets every day. There were no moaning sandal wearing tree huggers around in those days.
NO. Not horses, they exhale carbon dioxide!
Just hope that an air pollution check is done the day before and on the day to check if it made a difference.
Which towns and cities????
You mention London & Bristol only – nothing new here
Sadiq Khan’s a sandwich short of a picnic, he’s going all out about emissions knocking maybe six months off the end of a long life when there are people getting stabbed to death on a near daily basis in London!
It’s not restricted to London only , WAKEY WAKEY
It’s going to be hard for people to accept the need for these changes — perhaps unless you have asthma or have a child with asthma. Nevertheless, it will bring general health advantages. The argument against limiting cars in terms of freedom (that’s a specific, car-use related definition of freedom) is silly in cities where many viable alternatives exist.
Such as buses perhaps, unfortunately the nearest bus stop to me is 1000 yards away and buses don’t run between 23:00 and 05:00, even worse on Sundays. I would have no option but to use my car.
You don’t do yourself any favours with that particular argument. A whole 1000 yards. Might have its own benefits walking to the bus stop and back every day. Also the time coverage is reasonable unless you work the night shift.
John Ottaway:- I start my shift at 6am but without a car would mean a 4mile journey to the train station, 10mile train journey, change trains, 15mile train journey then 1mile walk to the factory. 12 hours later return journey.
Only 1 small problem with doing this…………..1st bus to the station 7.15am.
By car, the journey is only 8miles each way and takes only 15mins., but no bus service.
I am unable to ride a bike so cannot use this kind of transport. It would take about 2 hours there if public transport were available.
Maybe you can suggest how I am supposed to get to work on time and not lose my job and as I cannot afford an EV what alternative do you suggest?
Zoggie, you mean you used to because your a retired person now.
Zoggie,
Yours is the only sensible/rational argument thus far but, I’d give up arguing on this forum if I was you because it’s obviously overwhelmingly populated by a bunch of loony left ‘snowflakes’
Coming in to town from so places in the stick there is no option as the buses or trains don’t go there
No they dont. I used to work in london and actually lost my job because i prefered to use public transport. I could only cover 2 or 3 jobs a day but those using a car were getting 6 or 7 done in the same time.
if you take al l cars off the road where dose the money come from 4 road Maintenance if all things go electric with no road tax
‘rsgrant
Out of general taxation, same as it does already. No difference really.
No need to fret, the Government will find a solution. Once take up of EV has become significant slap £1000 annual car tax on them to offset them paying no fuel duty. That’s an off the cuff suggestion, I’m sure the Chancellor and his cronies will think of something.
Road tax😒
It VED!! Road maintenance is paid for from general taxation
Mark Jones, don’t be a d$%k, it’s a tax to use the road no matter what they call it.
Just keep penalizing the motorist, deliveries need to be made to businesses people need a choice of transport not just tubes and buses which are stuffy, slow, and unbearable in the heat. I dont imagine Khan or any of his cohorts cycle every where to meetings and social events we also need to blame the stupid people that voted this idiot into office in the first place. Remember be careful what you wish for get this guy out of office and get someone in who cares about the motorist as well as the air quality in lONDON there needs to be a balance which helps all parties not just making motorists pay for everything
There is no denying that pollution from whatever source is a problem – changed my pollen filter recently and its not good to think Im part of the problem.What to do – first if companies can employ more people to work from home ,video conference calls etc that’s a start – second make it enforceable that cars at lights cut their engines( I do it in my old Audi it’s a matter of getting into the habit and it saves money and cuts pollution)encourage car owners with tax relief to drive less mileage each year and use public transport which could also be tax incentivised – I’m sure cleverer people than me can come up with a formula- finally we need a national planting scheme in towns and cities to regreen areas helping to catch and absorb harmful emissions with the added benefit of creating a more harmonious environment.
Yes your right. Every town should be planting more trees in their parks and suburbs. Birmingham, is very good on this as the have more trees per square mile than most towns or cities in the country.
Most towns are cutting trees down to build new houses & roads! Preston certainly is!
The root of the problem is the massive population on the planet. Our own population is stretching the largely Victorian built infrastructure to breaking point.
IT IS A WELL KNOWN FACT THAT SWITCHING THE ENGINE ON AND OFF USES MORE FUEL THAN LETTING IT TICK OVER!
Prescott in Office promoted diesel, then invented “sleeping policemen) speed bumps, now the b—-d has had a heart attack, GREAT
It’s no big deal, I usually avoid going into cities anyway unless I really have to. Most have large out of town shopping centers anyway, no wonder many cities are becoming ghost towns, especially at night and businesses are closing at a phenominal rate.
Leave car in garage and use public transport in preference. urban areas are best avoided!
leave car in garage use public transport in preference . urban areas have become no go zones at peak times and most people have realized this..
I think it’s utterly disgusting with no thought of the elderly or disabled who have to use a car to get from A to B
You can only go so far with these schemes before the motorists rebel and vote in a new council who take us back nearer the present position.
I am often in the Netherlands and many of their buses are electric powered. Why are we always so backward when it comes to our public transport being so behind with modern requirements? Another thing is their buses arrive on time and depart on time. If ever they do arrive early, they wait until the correct departure time before driving off. How many times do we in the U.K. arrive ON TIME at the stop, only to find the bus left five minutes ago?
I absolutely agree with you, Ray. Another Scandi country (I think it’s Denmark) has made public transport free, all of the time. What little provision for public transport we have in this country is expensive, unreliable and doesn’t and cannot access all areas. That’s why people rely on cars.
When I lived in the Netherlands I’d ALWAYS leave my car at home when going in to town.
Even late at night, Dutch public transport was safe and reliable. Whereas over here, even if there is a late night bus or train service, your safety is in jeopardy because of gangs of ferral children, drunks and other low-life.
Ray: My answer to the question you posed in the final sentence of your comment is ‘very rarely’, indeed my experience is that buses are much more likely to be running later than the scheduled times rather than ahead of them.
That’s all very well in trying to curb pollution and diesel vehicles being isolated as one of the bigger culprits. Rudolf Diesel invented the engine to run on vegetable or plant oils , DERV as we know it today was created by the oil industry. Bio Diesel which is basically made from plant oils, runs clean and is better for the engine. I know as I made Bio Diesel and run my car on it and had it checked on a emission machine in an MOT station and seen the readings at 0. So why is there not a campaign to run all Diesel vehicles on BD. Also with all these restrictions being placed and hitting the poor already hard hit motorist is there any plans to reduce vehicle taxation , I think there would be more chance of getting to the moon without a rocket than that happening.
Hope you are paying fuel duty, you have to pay that to HMRC even if you do make it yourself!
Under a certain limit for your own personal use is tax free I believe.
So instead of dying of polution you die of starvation as the land is used to grow oil seed rape etc instead of food crops. Due you need methanol to produce bio diesel or is that only when using waste cooking oil?
Melvin: You did not specify what particular pollutant(s) output registered as zero when your car was tested. Are you sure the readings for the one or more of the undesirable substances in the emissions really was/were zero rather than non-zero but nevertheless within the levels presently set for an MOT pass? If so the sensitivity or accuracy of the instrumentation used must be in doubt.
I find it difficult to believe that the emission of oxides of nitrogen when running on bio-diesel would be much less than running on conventional mineral diesel fuel. This is because these oxides arise from the reaction between nitrogen and oxygen in the air taken into the cylinders and the reaction rate is governed by the temperature and pressure there which presumably is similar for either type of fuel. Moreover, both bio-diesel and conventional diesel fuels are carbon compounds which therefore when fully burnt lead to emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Given that in the world as a whole, although not in the UK, hunger and starvation are major problems it is surely immoral to use the required huge areas of land to grow oils for vehicle fuel instead of food production.
I think this global warming is a load of bs anyway, co2 comes from all over not just cars, we breathe out co2, fires can start on there own, trees take in co2 an make oxygen, it’s a cycle, man can’t destroy or make anything, you can only change its form. The whole world is made of carbon atoms. There have been changes in temperature since the world began, from the ice age to now wasn’t that a major temperature change? An this load of crack pots are on about 1 degrees Celsius in 15 years? Oh no by 2525 were all gonna burn up!
Being disabled due to an idiot driving on a phone, causing a crash, car free days may good for some but for me it means I’m stuck indoors.
Car free days are not a solution at present but perhaps something to aim for in the future. The far future as far as I see. We are not equipped for such an event. It would only cause chaos..
Car free cities? What a laugh, more high street shop closures, as not everyone can walk, cycle or take the bus! The Big Malls will soon be empty, leave the motorist alone for once.
There ought to be room for everyone on the roads through the towns and cities. Not just buses, taxis and pedestrians.
My local council increased the minimum charge for parking to £1.50 at the begining of june. Already there are shops talking about closing because they have lost so much trade. Public transport is ok but never goes where you want it when you want it. For example, to get to my local hospital takes 30 mins by car by public transport it is nearly 2 hours (bus, train, 2 buses). By all means, ban cars but not until there is a viable and affordable alternative.
Most of my 80 years I’ve lived in rural country areas and have ended up with asthma so it’s not a town thing as the knee jerkers wish us to believe
So if we have no car zones either for a day or ever I will become a prisoner of my circumstance and will be severely restricted on what I do . Public transport is out as there are usually long walks involved. So maybe I have to have a personal Uber car on hand. No can to do that as they will be banned
. So what is my solution. I hope some do gooder knee jerker has the answer as I have not
Unlike most of the country In the big smog, you really dont need a car, public transport is actually good enought to get arround effeciently, but a big part of that is the bus network.
Removing all vehicles from the road is going to cause absolute chaos, and how deliveries will work with no vehicles, i dont know. perhaps the tube will be full of delivery persons with handcarts?
Vehicles are essential to the functioning of a city, and untill there is a viable, environmentally secure and cost effective alternative (Li-Ion/hydrogen fuel cells are not this solution) the ICE will be required.
So if there is a major gas leak ,water leak, fire or ambulance need, how is it going to work ?? Nurses on home visits, meals on wheels ( or not on wheels as the case may be) the list goes on
Such hypocritical pandering to the fanatics. Maybe Sadiq Kahn should first clean up TfL and cancel taxis’ exemption from ULEZ
I attended a forum last week where the local Green Party activist stood up and made a speech regarding super polluting Diesel cars, I must admit that I drive a diesel car and had done some serious research before attending the forum, I waited patiently until the nimpty had finished his speech and then stood to make my own, I pointed out right at the start of my speech that unlike the previous speaker, when I gave a quote regarding emission levels I would back the claim with refrence to the research body that published the reasearch, I then went on to tear his claims apart, the latest Euro 6 diesels are cleaner in every respect than the equivelent Petrol version of the car, the Green Party numpty did not do as I had and allowed him to finish his speech without interuption, he tried to shout me down at every point, he even refused to accept the battery powed cars had an impact on the environment, accrding to him they used no energy when they were being built, or when they were recycled at the end of their life, in his eyes their only energy use was the recharging while in use, while certain people with so called “Green” credendials have closed minds such as this man, common sense will not prevail.
David, there are far too many like your “green nimpty” who are willing to quote pie in the sky statements, without any relation to the truth. They are not interested in counter arguments, because it then criticises the dogma that they have been fed.
Have I missed something here?
This is another London centric article (not as described in the précis). It may come as something of a shock but nobody outside London gives a flying funk!
And what happened to the promised list of towns and cities planning a similar exercise?
Another assault on the innocent motorist.
How about having a no fly day at all major airports and a stay in port for all large ships!
The city of London has its own Lord Mayor! Sadiq Khan has no jurisdiction there at all!
Totally disagree with the whole proposal. It also sends out the wrong message to young children that it’s ok to play in the road. They do not understand it’s car free day, what about the next day when it’s all back to normal. England is going crazy. So many business are going to suffer and so will the disabled and elderly. There are more things causing pollution. The government really have lost the plot
I wonder how many people live in the city of London, with childrn who wish to play in the street?
I’m lucky I don’t live in a city. Even in my town there is no incentive to go into the town centre due to congestion and parking charges. I use retail parks in the outskirts. I blame the councils for the resulting shop closures. If I won the lottery tomorrow I wouldn’t dream of living somewhere like London. You are charged a fortune as a car driver for the joy of sitting in queues of traffic everywhere. Surely people will start to move away from the big cities if they can to avoid these unnecessary charges. As for electric cars, they only make sense to people in big cities with the money to buy them and a driveway for charging them. Diesels are still much cheaper to buy and run than electric.
This is crazy, most people do their shopping out of town now thats another reason why the High St is failing, just another thought if you want to buy 100 bricks or a dozen 2.4 metre lengths of wood which you could easily get in a car how do you get them home without a car because £50 delivery charge is out of the question. How does one get to a hospital appointment or as walking wounded with this ban.
22nd September? A SUNDAY? Big deal, get real. Ban ALL but public transport, emergency vehicles and delivery vehicles on ALL days. Bit radical but . . . big things don’t come from the comfort zone.
Fine if you live in a major city with so many options. The rest of us will just have to learn to never visit our cities again. We can stay at home and watch fox hunting.
So the mayor will ban the lorries stocking the supermarket shelves with food or essentials he won’t be happy till only the very very rich can afford to drive which includes his family, he like the boss of the BBC want absolute power
Have you tried buying an EV with a reasonable range? I tried and failed. 14 month wait, totally stupid money and sales people who actually think they are doing you a favour. If you don’t have off street parking, boy are you going to have fun and with each advancement in technology, the depreciation will be horrendous on the present model!!
I’m now going to wait two or three years and try again. Hopefully, things will then have improved. Maybe, we’ll have hydrogen in the not too distant future, which has got to be easier than batteries.
Hey-ho, we live in hope. The silly thing is that I actually want to buy one – why is it so difficult?
I am about to choose my next company car (which I need for the job) for the next 4 years and I would love to go electric – BUT … I live in a first floor flat which is part of a converted Victorian house in a conservation area and I don’t own the front garden. So, I cannot apply for planning permission (which might not be granted) to demolish the garden and install a charging point – and it’s illegal (for obvious reasons) to trail an electric cable across the pavement. There is only ONE charging point in our town. In other words, I can’t go electric. It evidences yet again how governments only pay lip service to improving air quality and the use of alternative fuels. They, and the car industry, have fallen far behind requirements. In any case, we also have to question whether the way the electricity was generated in the first place was “green”. So much for ruddy government initiatives. All they can ever come up with is the not very novel idea of hitting someone over the head with charges and taxes – and all that does is enrich the Treasury, not improve matters.
Bollards with charging points?
This is precisely why town centres are dieing and out of town centres are flourishing because of high parking charges/ congestion charge, people will vote with their feet/ money
As car driver I think this is an excellent idea. Any move towards reducing the high air pollution rates of our city centres must be a good idea. In London public transport – buses, DLR & the tube -I assume will be available on this date.
No cars = no shopping trip = no high street = game over.
Rather misleading headline, the only cities mentioned are London and Bristol and they have already published what they are doing. Not much research or new information here.
I am amazed at the nonsense spouted on this page. The western model of business doesn’t create wealth it simply moves it around. In physics energy is fixed but it does change form – chemical to kinetic etc. Business is the same – simply another means of exchanging resources from one form to another and transferring money from one to another – if you get more it has to come from someone else – the overall amount of wealth is fixed. The sooner more human activity recognises these fundamental facts the better it will be for everyone. And remember that just because “most people” think something is a good idea means absolutely nothing. In the mid 1930s “most people” in Germany thought a chap called Adolf Hitler would be good for their country, their economy, their standing in the world, so they voted for him – didn’t work out well for anyone.
If you’re going to stop cars and taxis you should be banning all buses as well or what’s the point.
Absolute bs. Clean his own house first i.e. buse, council vehicles etc. Ordinary people dont want this. I have a great idea for kermit khan to clean up the capital- pay everyone to stay at home i.e. pay their wages out of his budget. Btw I live in Devon but people like him live in another world, if he don’t like Englands air I suggest he could go back to where he came from.
What a bigoted comment.
Come the winter Floods, Snow and Ice, and EVERY council in this country will be turning to us 4×4 volunteers to help deliver doctors, nurses, carers, and meals-on-wheels, not to mention pulling ambulances up steep icy hills or supporting the police who don’t have enough 4x4s nor the extreme weather driver training/experience to use such vehicles even if the local councils purchased them.
Every council is required, by law, to have a “resilience plan”. And those plans rely on those of us who own polluting 4x4s to offer our time and our vehicles to keep essential services running. Suddenly, those eco warriors who have been so rude and abusive all year, come knocking on the door or wave us down hoping we’ll get them out of trouble.
Come winter, or any climate emergency, and it’s a basic fact that this country is reliant upon the owners of big 4×4 diesels to keep people safe. Take us irresponsible polluters off the road, and councils will have no resilience to flood or snow or other severe driving conditions.
I agree totally, first bit of snow and calls go out to 4×4 users to transport medical staff, but we are the enemies but what happens without us. I’m disabled I need something that will get across rough land with the ground clearance that won’t mean I spend a fortune on repairs for underside damage. Anyway how is our electric produced by power stations which create pollution so what when we do our bit in this country can the Americans do more to get rid off their gas guzzlers for something more economical and a President who does give a damn and China too. For the mileage I do changing to an electric car which is too low for me is far too expensive and my drives are long and I’m I supposed to sit and wait to charge an electric vehicle on my journey. Most public charging points I see are always out of order, jog on government I’m not changing my car I can’t afford it as the government decided I was unfit to work through disability! Can’t do anything right!
Another poorly-written, biased article, criticizing any initiative to reduce car usage but offering no alternatives, effectively implying that we should bury our heads in the sand and continue as we are (with extreme traffic congestion, pollution etc). We need to reduce both car usage and ownership to tackle pollution and to give more of our streets back to the people, and not persist indefinitely with our car culture addiction. A car-free day in London may be a little gimmicky, and of course, in itself will only play a small part to this overall goal. But make no mistake, Sadiq Khan has done more than most leaders in highlighting and addressing these issues and deserves considerable praise.
I think Mayor Khan has just talked himself out of a job!
What happens to people who own cars in these cities, people who have just bought electric cars, another example of tell us to buy diesel car and then banning them, how are people to get around , I bet the government, royalty will all get away with this stupid idea. Disabled people who relay on taxis, town center supermarkets, delivery drivers, and so it goes on , we will all be riding horseback in a while.