‘Do ULEZ rules consider poor workers who need to drive into London?’
What affect do you think ULEZ will has on the poorest amongst us?
In today’s MetroTalk, one reader says, it’s not just about the scrappage element for people who can afford a car, but that the poorest of London’s workers are just as able to afford a ULEZ-compliant car as they are able to adhere to Mayor Sadiq Khan’s scrappage scheme.
But, what choice do you have if your current car is ULEZ non-compliant and you can’t afford another one? Pay the daily charge?
In a cost of living crisis where everything is on the up and with wages staying stagnant that could prove rather difficult.
What do you think?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
'How are minimum wage workers supposed to get to work?'
I cannot believe that people such as Margaret Dickinson (MetroTalk, Wed) are allowed to have their total woke claptrap printed in Metro.
The idea that people only really object to London mayor Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ scheme because of the scrappage element – whereby drivers can claim some money against the cost of a compliant car – is, frankly, ridiculous.
What people are really concerned about is the simple fact that they are being taxed again for using their perfectly good-but-old cars on the roads that they have already paid for with their taxes.
How are the poorest workers in London – the ones who work for minimum wage and do the jobs nobody with money wants – supposed to get to work when the only cars they can afford are clapped-out old bangers that don’t meet ULEZ standards, so will have to pay £12.50 a day?
They must travel, because the cost of living closer to their work is not bearable; they can’t afford better cars because of low wages and high cost of living, and our smug mayor says ‘don’t worry I’ve got a scrappage scheme you won’t be able to afford either’. It’s disgusting apathy regarding the lives of the real people he is supposed to serve. Peter Smith, via email
METRO TALK - HAVE YOUR SAY
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Bill from Welling (MetroTalk, Wed) says his wife got caught doing 30mph in a newly designated 20mph zone and highlights how speeding fines are a money-making scheme.
Do you know how you can really stick it to Sadiq Khan? Don’t go over the speed limit. That way you deprive them of their income and you have the last laugh.
Seriously though, if your wife is unable to spot a road sign, that is her failure. There are signs for numerous things and it’s her responsibility as a driver to be aware of her surroundings. God help us all trying to use the same roads otherwise. Joe, London
I’m not against cleaner air or cleaner cars, but I am against cameras checking whether cars are ULEZ-compliant on all our residential streets.
I want a free society and not one where our every move is on camera. This will only get worse with time.
And when you factor in the spread of digital currency, we are being eroded of our freedoms. They have to find a different way, otherwise I’ll vote to scrap every time. Natalia, London
Rishi Sunak and his 100 new licenses for North Sea oil
So, in announcing his 100 new licences for North Sea oil and gas extraction, and U-turning on his eco-promises, prime minister Rishi Sunak says we can’t rely on dictators for fuel.
Since our usage of Russian fuel stands at four per cent of our country’s total, I wouldn’t say our reliance was ever high.
However, we will still be at the mercy of the dictators at the head of the fuel companies that are being offered licences to drill in the North Sea. No doubt costs to the UK will be much the same as now, despite Sunak’s spin. Jean, Oldham
Is this the same North Sea gas and oil the Conservatives claimed was insufficient to secure the future of an independent Scotland? They really do take us for mugs, don’t they? Neil, Sutton Coldfield
If only Labour could see it – or is it only their leader Sir Keir Starmer who is the one who is yet to?
Rishi Sunak has put clear water between the bankrupt Tories and the Labour Party. Mr Sunak wants to tear up anything that resembles green promises so he and his mates can all get back in the swim of self-destruction. Sir Keir has to stick to what he promised the electorate. Green is the new red – just believe in it.Tony B, Thailand
It’s time to check the headlines, Rishi Sunak. Global heatwaves, floods, drought, famine, wildfires all caused or exacerbated by climate change caused by excessive burning of fossil fuels.
Yet licensing 100 new gas and oil drilling licences in the North Sea is ‘entirely consistent with our net zero policy’.
I’m glad we’re in safe hands. Never have we more needed the work of Just Stop Oil. Vince, Coventry
‘Oxfam are trying to do good by protesting new fossil fuel projects’
Bernard Rimmer (MetroTalk, Wed) is angry at Oxfam for criticising the licensing of new fossil fuel projects and he says ‘do-gooders should do good, not interfere with democracy’.
But we are in an era of global boiling – people, animals and species are dying at an unprecedented rate.
Therefore, protesting something that will actively help to kill billions of people and life as we know it is a moral duty.
Democracy is the will of the people. I think we all want to avoid the extinction of the human race let alone all the species, suffering in our own lives and the suffering of our children. Charlie, London
The influence of climate activists
I blame Just Stop Oil for Rishi Sunak’s decision to grant the 100 new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea.
Their protests have been counterproductive and created a backlash, which has made this decision possible by changing the political climate. Martin Grossman, Hackney
Would you rather the right to die than a long and painful death?
British expat David Hunter, 76, has been freed after spending 19 months in jail for killing his terminally ill wife in an assisted suicide (Metro, Tue).
I’m glad. His wife begged him to end her suffering from cancer. I hope other terminally ill patients will be able to have doctor-assisted help to die, if they request it.
Why can’t doctors use their skills to bring about a peaceful death at life’s end, if it’s the patient’s wish?
Views do change. Victorians thought pain-relief in childbirth was a sin – until Queen Victoria requested it for her births and then it was accepted!
Many countries now allow medically assisted dying for the terminally ill, even Jersey.
Many of us would enjoy our lives more if we didn’t fear we might one day suffer
a long, painful and undignified death. A Wills, Ruislip
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