Sadiq Khan’s hollow ULEZ victory just handed Tories a major election lifeline

The shock by-election victory for the Conservatives in Uxbridge and South Ruislip combined with the High Court ruling in favour of Sadiq Khan ‘s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) expansion may prove to be an historic turning point in politics in the UK. The two events within a week have set the debate for next year’s election both for London Mayor and in the general election. The question will be: Are we willing to pay punitive green taxes in the name of climate change? Given the green light today, it now seems certain that Sadiq Khan will press ahead with the ULEZ expansion to outer London imposing £12.50 daily charges (around £4,500 a year) on hundreds of thousands of people already struggling with the cost of living crisis. In doing so he will open the door to an election victory for the Conservatives which for months now has seemed to be impossible. Protster outside the High Court with a poster of Sadiq Khan (Image: Getty) In the wake of their victory in Uxbridge it has clearly been dawning on the Conservative Party that one part of the Boris Johnson legacy which all sides in its civil war are increasingly comfortable in ditching is the Net Zero targets and measures. Already, Rishi Sunak ‘s support for drilling for more UK-based oil and gas was being portrayed as a dividing line with Labour. It is obvious now that they plan to ditch the policy of banning new petrol and diesel cars in 2030. The green levy on energy bills is being looked at closely. And with Just Stop Oil fanning the flames of public discontent the Conservatives have realised somewhat belatedly that “the green crap”, as David Cameron once dubbed it, is actually desperately unpopular among voters. Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall outside the High Court today (Image: Getty) Uxbridge proved these green policies are genuinely hated. ULEZ has become the poll tax of its day. Now Tory London Mayor candidate Susan Hall can test a new anti-green agenda (although they will not portray it in those words) by running for office under the promise of turning off the ULEZ cameras on day one if elected. The impossible now seems possible thanks to ULEZ – a Conservative victory in London. But where is Labour? Starmer was clearly shocked by the Uxbridge result, a by-election his party should have won by a country mile. He has spent the week “reflecting” on ULEZ but not promising to ditch these policies. anti ULEZ protesters warn of the death of democracy (Image: Getty) Meanwhile, the Conservatives rightly point out that his party is being funded by millionaire Dale Vince, the very man who bankrolls the equally hated protests by the eco-extremists in Just Stop Oil. But while Starmer dithered others in Labour have made it clear what their policies will be. Over the weekend, Express.co.uk revealed how Angela Rayner had admitted ULEZ would be coming to towns and cities across the UK under Labour . Starmer has hailed the Corbynista government in Wales under the far-left Mark Drakeford as the model going forward and it has banned the building of all new roads. Labour councils are pushing 15-minute zones restricting people’s movement in their daily lives. Sadiq Khan’s next plan is to get people to pay by the mile for driving in London. So ULEZ is just the start of a whole new socialist vision of taxing and controlling people’s lives. It seems that Labour will not be heeding Tony Blair’s advice in his interview with Andrew Marr this week: ‘Don’t ask us to do a huge amount when frankly whatever we do in Britain is not really going to impact climate change.’ Instead, this is strangely related to the other big news story of the week, Nigel Farage and his battle with the NatWest group over the cancellation of his bank account. What we are seeing is Labour siding with the woke pro-Net Zero policies wealthy elite. People like Dame Alison Rose, the now former chief executive of Nat West. Rose had pushed Net Zero policies at NatWest and Farage’s questioning of them was one of the reasons his bank account was cancelled. Millionaires like Rose and the wealthy supporters of Net Zero (including Dale Vince) can afford the £12.50 a day tax to drive in London without much thought. They can afford the most expensive model of electric car or the expensive alternative heating systems to gas for their large homes. The abiding image of COP26 in Glasgow and COP27 in Egypt was the rows of dozens of private jets taken by world leaders and celebrities to discuss climate change and how more measures needed to be imposed on ordinary people. As Labour came out fighting for Alison Rose over de-banking, that is the people it now represents – the entitled, virtue signalling but hypocritical elites. Meanwhile, one of the lessons of the Conservatives storming the Labour traditional Red Wall seats in 2019 was that they can if they wish become the party of ordinary working people. If they go through with the de-greening of their policies it will be a clear sign that they are more on the side of those struggling with the cost of living than Labour are. The re-alignment of politics could be more dramatic than people think. The events of the last week have left both main parties with a difficult choice – but Sadiq Khan’s victory in court will prove to be hollow if it opens the door for a Conservative election win next year.