Letters: Ulez expansion will hit the poor hardest – and Sadiq Khan knows it

SIR – If the expanded ultra-low emission zone will only affect 10 per cent of motorists, as stated by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, it follows that only a small fraction of air pollution is caused by non-compliant vehicles, most of which are run by the less well off. As usual, the cost of politicians’ clever ideas falls most heavily on those least able to afford it.

Mike Crowe
Cullompton, Devon

SIR – The population of Greater London is about nine million, similar to Austria’s. For a single person – the Mayor of London – to be able impose an unwanted policy on so many is surely a perversion of democracy.

Ian Statham
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

SIR – What is the point of Rishi Sunak? It seems the Mayor of London has more clout than the Prime Minister.
Eric Parkman
Eastbourne, East Sussex

SIR – The Ulez expansion should put a few more nails in the high street’s coffin.
Bill Moulding
Kirkham, Lancashire

SIR – John Cavendish (Letters, August 29) illustrates the arbitrariness of the Ulez criteria. 

I own an Audi A7 diesel registered in 2014. It complies with MOT emissions requirements and has completed 39,000 miles since new. The manufacturing involved in replacing it would cause more environmental damage than continuing with similar usage, and the cost of a new model is prohibitive. Were the same model registered in 2015, it would comply and not be subject to Ulez charges. I will be charged because of the age of the car, not the emission level.

Why cannot a more targeted system, which takes account of such circumstances, be introduced? 

Peter Gray
Tunbridge Wells, Kent

SIR – Could everybody who is protesting against the expansion of Ulez please think back to the summer of 2020? 

Did that not make us realise once and for all how polluting the internal combustion engine is, and how wonderful it is to breathe clean air and gaze at clear blue skies?

Chris Wakefield
Lymm, Cheshire

SIR – Here in Surrey, I have a choice. To get to my nearest London borough (Croydon), do I cycle four minutes to the nearest station at Redhill and catch a train that takes nine minutes, or do I get in my non-compliant (proper) Land Rover Defender and drive eight miles, which takes at least 25 minutes, and then spend an unknown length of time trying to find somewhere to park, and pay for the parking? 

Exactly what is the problem with the Ulez expansion?

Christian Froggatt
Reigate, Surrey
 

Labour’s GP record

SIR – You report (August 28) that Labour wishes to allow patients to see the GP of their choice. Is this the same Labour Party that removed the concept of personal GP lists when last in power?

Under that Labour government, patients were no longer to be registered with a named GP, but with a GP practice. Personal lists were out; GPs were to be “performers”. Patients were understandably confused by this change, which did nothing for the doctor-patient relationship.

So now Labour wants to pay us more to go back to what we used to be. Perhaps, given enough time, it may even think of another name for “performer”. May I propose doctor?

Dr Jonathan Botting
London SW15

SIR – Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is correct that continuity of care and patient choice are important (Commentary, August 28). 

Unfortunately, since Gordon Brown became prime minister, every government has tried to squeeze more and more out of the 2004 GP contract (the last major reform of general practice). Successive governments wanting continuous efficiency improvements have led to people being unable to see the same GP.

Receptionists and practices are not deliberately withholding appointments, as Mr Streeting seems to suggest; there are simply not enough GPs, and consequently insufficient appointments. 

The highly publicised “extra 26,000 staff recruited to primary care” are health professionals other than doctors, and if appointments with them are all that is available, then that is all that can be offered. 

Mr Streeting needs to come up with major reform if he wants meaningful improvements. Redirecting funding between practices will only accelerate closures.

Dr Amit Patel
London N3
 

Air traffic failure

SIR – The failure of National Air Traffic Services’ (Nats) planning system left many thousands of people stranded across Europe (report, August 29). 

This is a mission-critical system that should provide a safe environment for aircraft to enter UK airspace. Such a failure puts lives at risk and damages the credibility of Nats.

A mission-critical system – the failure of which can result in serious loss of life – must have a hot standby system as a backup. Is such a contingency available to Nats, and if it was, why was it not implemented?

Ian James
Woodborough, Wiltshire
 

Cockney coaching

SIR – In more recent interviews, Dick Van Dyke has said that he had no idea that there was anything wrong with his cockney accent in Mary Poppins (Letters, August 29), and he wished that someone had let him know. 

He was such a big star at the time – he was in it chiefly to sell it in America – that no one dared tell him. He also subsequently discovered that he was coached by an Irishman who couldn’t do a cockney accent either.

John Brandon
Tonbridge, Kent

SIR – Michael Caine’s Scottish accent has received justifiable criticism (Letters, August 25). As a native Geordie, I cannot bring myself to watch the acclaimed television series, Vera, as Vera’s attempts at the Geordie accent are too painful.

David Hutchinson
Nutley, East Sussex
 

Envious of the West

SIR – Con Coughlin reminds us that the existing Brics nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – have little in common with each other than hostility to, and envy of, the West (“Brics is now a motley crew of failing states,” Comment, August 24). 

The current proposal to expand the group by six more countries (Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) will only increase this envy. So, what is the right mechanism to redirect these destructive energies aimed at the West?

One American president with whom I worked in Washington in the 1980s had a simple solution based on free markets and open economies: “The best way to deal with envy is to become one of the envied.”

For existing and prospective Brics nations, this approach may be better than attempting to create an economic miracle from failing states and failed policies.

Tom Berger
Deputy assistant secretary of the US Treasury, 1986-89
London SW1
 

Winning windows

SIR – John Hill (Letters, August 29) makes no mention of the age of the timber windows he sadly replaced with plastic ones. The windows in the original part of my house are 150 years old. They are made from pitch pine and Oregon pine. I have had to replace two sills and patch a further one – not unexpectedly, as we live by the sea.
 
That said, I fully anticipate that with minimal maintenance they will outlive me. Timber windows, unlike plastic, are repairable, fully recyclable and have the further advantage of being aesthetically pleasing.

Laurence Nicoll
Crail, Fife

SIR – A few years ago we reluctantly had some uPVC windows installed. The sales agent proudly informed us that they were guaranteed for 10 years. The wooden windows being replaced were more than 120 years old.

Peta Vick
Lytham, Lancashire

SIR – We replaced our wooden windows with powder-coated aluminium ones in the 1980s, and continued the policy at our two homes since moving. 

Our successors have made marvellous improvements to both previous homes, but the windows remain in place.

Roger Fowle
Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire
 

A more positive outlook on Devon’s ecology

SIR – Torbay Council is one of the authorities signed up to the Devon climate emergency initiative, which seems to be scaring children out of their wits (“All lessons need a net zero twist, schools told”, report, August 29). However, its warnings of the “planet’s ecological collapse” are interesting, given that Torbay has the most fantastic populations of seals, dolphins, porpoises and seahorses – all conveniently ignored by the council. 

Instead of celebrating the treasures on show at Unesco Geopark at Berry Head and nearby Dartmoor, the authority’s doom-mongering goes unchecked. 

At the same time, it seems to be contributing to the collapse; a recent example being the building of nearly 400 homes on farmland that is home to decent populations of cirl buntings and greater horseshoe bats.

It’s not all doom and gloom down in Devon, and children must be shown our fantastic wildlife instead of being brainwashed into climate-emergency anxiety.

Kate Graeme-Cook
Brixham, Devon
 

Ordinary people pay while criminals run riot

SIR – My family have been victims of several incidents of low-level crime (Letters, August 29) over the past decade, including fraud, theft, and criminal damage. All – despite considerable efforts by us – were ignored by the police or Action Fraud.

This year I was fined simply for taking a wrong turn while driving, ending up in a low-traffic neighbourhood. Of course, I paid up – as who has the time to appeal properly? Ordinary citizens are penalised for going about their daily business, but criminals get away with nefarious actions. I wonder precisely whose side our governors are on. 

Philip Womack
London NW1

SIR – It is a timely step in the right direction that Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has instructed the police not to show support for “woke” causes (report, August 29). 

So much of what is wrong with today’s policing is exemplified by the photograph (August 28) of a dishevelled police officer squirting paint during the Notting Hill Carnival. This totally unprofessional behaviour is unacceptable.

Malcolm H Wheeler
Bonvilston, Glamorgan

SIR – With violence once again marring the Notting Hill Carnival, leaving eight people stabbed and 75 police officers assaulted, I am wondering what the reaction would have been had this occurred at various Premier League football matches.

Ivan Dunne
Carshalton, Surrey
 

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