Sadiq Khan accused of Orwellian attempts to squash dissent on ULEZ with taxpayer funded expert

20 August 2023, 23:29 | Updated: 20 August 2023, 23:34

Sadiq Khan has been accused of using taxpayer cash to squash dissent after using a GLA-paid expert to counter anti-ULEZ data.

Khan's deputy Shirley Rodrigues asked an academic, who was in receipt of funding from Mr Khan's office, to pour cold water on anti-Ulez research published by his colleagues at Imperial College London.

Ms Rodrigues asked Professor Frank Kelly whether he would be willing to "set the record straight", after his fellow Imperial College London university academics published a study suggesting the central London Ulez had a relatively small effect on air pollution at its launch.

London's Ulez will be expanded to cover Greater London from August 29, a move overseen by Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has asked Mr Khan to reflect on the policy's impact following last month's Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election result.

Labour had hoped to win former PM Boris Johnson's seat from the Conservatives, but said Ulez was a dividing issue that saw the Tories retain the seat.

The expansion, which was unsuccessfully challenged in the courts by five councils, of the zone past the north and south circular roads will see drivers in outer London pay a £12.50 daily fee if their vehicles do not meet required emissions standards.

Susan Hall, the Tory mayoral candidate in next year's City Hall election, has pledged to scrap the expansion.

Emails between Ms Rodrigues and Prof Kelly, which were obtained via a Conservative Party freedom of information request and shared with the PA news agency, show the deputy mayor contacted the air quality expert on November 16 2021 to highlight a study published by Imperial College, which she described as "misleading".

The study was covered in the Daily Mail and by Sky News, with the broadcaster reporting that the research showed Ulez's introduction in 2019 had "resulted in only small improvements in air quality soon after it was implemented".

City Hall says that analysing schemes such as Ulez at the outset is not "appropriate" as they take time for air quality improvements to be felt through motorists switching to cleaner vehicles or ditching their cars for public transport.

Ms Rodrigues, in her correspondence with Prof Kelly, said: "I am deeply concerned about the damage this misleading study is doing, both to our credibility and to low emission zones as a policy instrument.

"Is there anything you can do or advise to help us set the record straight?"

After Prof Kelly suggests he would be willing to support the Greater London Authority (GLA), Ms Rodrigues the next day emails again saying: "I do appreciate that you don't want to have a 'fight' with another part of Imperial but The Times... have also picked up (the report) and (are) repeating the mistake.

"Is there anything you'd be happy to put on the record now?"

Ms Rodrigues, responsible for environment and energy policy, goes on to work with him to draft a press statement to send out in his name.

In February 2023, when an article appears in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Khan's deputy again emails Prof Kelly asking him whether he could write to the newspaper to "challenge some of the misunderstandings" in the reporting.

Prof Kelly said Imperial College was against putting out a "direct contradiction" to the piece but said: "As always, I'm happy to fight back."