![Mayor of London Sadiq Khan](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/opinion/2023/08/25/TELEMMGLPICT000344820209_16929774578610_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRo0U4xU-30oDveS4pXV-Vv4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpeg?imwidth=680)
![Mayor of London Sadiq Khan](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/opinion/2023/08/25/TELEMMGLPICT000344820209_16929774578610_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRo0U4xU-30oDveS4pXV-Vv4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpeg?imwidth=680)
On Tuesday, Sadiq Khan’s hugely controversial expansion of his Ultra Low Emission Zone is finally set to become a reality. Unless the capital’s mayor is persuaded to stage a dramatic U-turn on this divisive measure, drivers of many older vehicles across Greater London will face a £12.50 daily charge for using them.
For thousands of people this will be a betrayal, not least because it is set to start immediately after a bank holiday and at a time when other forms of transport are plagued by strike action. Despite protestations to the contrary, the Government surely could have intervened to stop the expansion. Given that it will impose costs on people who do not live in London, and so cannot vote to get rid of Mr Khan, there was a principled case for introducing legislation to block it.
The danger now is that extreme environmentalists will be emboldened, and will pressure local governments to enact similar schemes elsewhere. Already some have raised the spectre of road charging, which could see motorists paying more if they drive at peak times. There appears to be no end to the creativity of green activists in devising schemes that will hinder people from being able to use their cars.
This may ultimately prove self-defeating. While voters broadly back efforts to decarbonise the economy and help the environment, polling has shown that support declines for individual measures if there is a direct cost to consumers. The whole environmental project could be derailed if its proponents fail to bring the public with them.
Sadiq Khan’s Ulez is a great betrayal
The danger now is that extreme environmentalists will be emboldened, and will pressure local governments to enact similar schemes elsewhere