The Mayor's congestion charge hike pushes Zipcar to the brink, proving London’s 'wind in the sails' was just hot air

Now, more than 18 months on, it could not be more obvious that the so-called “wind” was just political hot air.

Last week’s benefits budget was the second in a series that is making our country increasingly poorer and worse off. Not content with bludgeoning businesses with the sharp rise in National Insurance Contributions, this time round, the Chancellor took aim at business rates, which further cut the fiscal headroom that British businesses have.

Suddenly, the backbones of our economy - which until this point had been struggling to keep their head above the water in the sea of rising energy costs, out-of-control inflation, and tax rises - found themselves having to fight harder and harder to avoid being dragged under and collapsing.

And then Sadiq Khan decided to make things worse.

The planned change to the congestion charge - that is, to increase it by 20% from £15 to £18 in January, and to remove exemptions for electric vehicles - is a stealth tax on all Londoners, which will hit businesses hardest.

For the many businesses in London which adopted electric vehicles to cut emissions and avoid paying the congestion charge, they will now have to begin paying this sum for every vehicle that travels through the zone.

Their choice is either to stomach the loss of profit, or pass the cost onto the consumers - that is, the Londoner who uses a taxi to get from A to B, or who buys goods from a shop delivered by electric vehicles.

But not all companies can afford this. This week, we’ve seen ZipCar pause operations in Britain whilst they determine whether or not to close for good, amid the sea of rising costs.

This will potentially mean job losses, but it will also mean knock-on effects as half a million Londoners who rely on these cars lose access to vehicles, and businesses in the supply chain - garages, petrol stations, mechanics, and so forth - lose customers.

The Mayor doesn’t have to do this, either. This is all about him raising taxes - despite knowing how tough things are at the moment, especially with Labour crashing the economy - because he can, without caring at all about the knock-on effects of doing so.

Labour promised us growth would pay for their pet projects and schemes, and that this rising tide would lift all ships. But we know that you cannot tax your way to growth, and that choking the economy further is only going to lead to job losses and price increases. Little did we know when Labour said it was looking for growth, they meant so that they could snuff it out.

This anti-growth coalition is bad for London, bad for Britain, and bad for hardworking taxpayers who will suffer a decline in their quality of living as a result.

Only the Conservatives understand how interconnected the pieces of our economy are - and we’re going to fight to stop Labour taking it apart every step of the way.

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Thomas Turrell AM is the Conservative Deputy Chairman of the Transport Committee in the London Assembly.

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