Protesters make final attempts to stop Ulez with caravan chained outside Khan’s house

A caravan plastered with Ulez protest slogans has been chained outside Sadiq Khan’s house in a last-ditch attempt to stop the scheme.

Residents noticed the vehicle close to where the Mayor of London lives in Tooting on Sunday morning.

Slogans on the van, which was chained to a post, include: ‘Ulez is a cash grab’ and ‘Ulez will be your Poll Tax Mr Kahn’.

There’s also a picture of the mayor with a speech bubble saying: ‘Pay me £12.50 and you can pollute for 24 hours.’

It follows a large protest against the Ultra Low Emission Zone outside Tooting Broadway station on Saturday, where people waved signs decrying the scheme, set to expand to all London boroughs tomorrow.

A resident who saw the caravan said people in the area were angry about the scheme.

They added: ‘I saw the van this morning driving up towards the common. I burst out laughing I had to get a picture of it.

‘The mayor has lived here for years and it’s never bothered anyone. But all of a sudden these cameras have appeared so now people are really angry.

‘No one wants these new zones and they’re really going to impact people.

“If you can afford the fines or a new car you can crack on, but if you can’t you have to spend thousands.’

Ulez operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year, except Christmas Day.

If a vehicle doesn’t meet the Ulez emissions standards and isn’t exempt, drivers will be forced to pay a £12.50 daily charge to drive within the zone.

The resident said their car wasn’t compliant so were having to look for a new one, adding: ‘My elderly in-laws have had to get rid of their perfectly good Skoda and pay thousands for a new one so they can see their grandkids.

‘This scheme will be like Covid all over again. It will banish the elderly to stay in their houses.

‘If you can afford it you’re fine. But what if you can’t. I think the mayor hasn’t understood how people feel about it.’

Meanwhile, those protesting on Saturday voiced their frustrations.

Retired financial planner Warren Stephens, 50, suggested the initiative is ‘all about money and control’.

Mr Stephens, whose car is Ulez compliant, said: ‘It is saying you are “OK to drive your polluting car if you give me £12.50”.

‘It is all about money, otherwise they would ban petrol and polluting cars.’

Chants of ‘Get Khan Out’ could be heard among a crowd largely drawn from parts of London and the south who are now set to be affected by the expanded clean air zone is introduced.

Mr Khan has previously said that clean air is ‘a human right, not a privilege’ and he is ‘listening’ to people’s concerns about the scheme.

GMB London regional organiser Trevlyn McLeod disagreed, telling LBC: ‘Listen to the people, Mr Khan, listen to the people who are going to suffer, listen to the people who can’t afford now to go to work or never mind put food on the table.

‘We all want clean air for our children and generations, but you’ve gone in too far, too deep and it’s going to cost people’s lives and livelihoods.’

A number of Ulez cameras have been vandalised and stolen since the scheme was first launched, often by people who call themselves ‘blade runners’.

It has led Transport for London (TFL) to take extra steps to protect the devices such as positioning them higher up with armoured boxes around the cables.

A spokesman for the London mayor said: ‘The mayor has always been clear that the decision to expand the Ulez was a very difficult one, but he is not prepared to stand by while around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely each year due to air pollution.’

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