‘Far from being a party-political matter, ULEZ expansion is now a pitiful, populist cross-party, vote-seeking Labour-Tory ideology’

• OF course Emily Thornberry was “unable to respond and add to her post-by-election comments” critical of the Mayor of London’s ULEZ, ultra low emission zone, expansion, (Clear the air on your eco views, MP urged, August 4).

With a general election on the horizon, the MP’s primary focus won’t be clean air but retaining her parliamentary seat and supporting the boss in his quest to become the United Kingdom’s next prime minister.

Indeed, as if on cue, Sir Keir Starmer has now U-turned on clean-air zones, removing the Labour Party’s supporting statement from the latest version of its national policy programme, included in its draft policy handbook only a month ago: “Labour supports the principle of clean air zones and recognises the huge damage to human health caused by air pollution and the damages to our climate caused by carbon emissions from polluting vehicles.

“However, they must be phased in carefully, mindful of the impacts on small businesses and low-paid workers and should be accompanied with a just transition plan to enable people to switch affordably to low-emission vehicles.” (LocalGov: Labour U-turns on support for clean air zones).

The Labour leader has declaimed: “…in an election, policy matters. We are doing something very wrong if policies put forward by the Labour Party end up on each and every Tory leaflet. We’ve got to face up to that and to learn the lesson.”

This will be also Ms Thornberry’s line.

Islington’s clean air campaigners would do better to challenge Islington South Labour publicly to criticise their party’s MP, asking that members uphold London mayor Sadiq Khan’s public health, clean-air strategy.

Far from being a party-political matter, ULEZ expansion is now a pitiful, populist cross-party, vote-seeking Labour-Tory ideology, itself an ironic extension of the binary politics that has long undermined local and national democracy.

Time’s up for these antiquated, top-down politics.

MEG HOWARTH
Ellington Street, N7