Voters warned ‘don’t trust flipflop Starmer’ on vow of no rollout ULEZ across UK

Voters have been warned not to trust “flipflop” Sir Keir Starmer over his latest apparent U-turn on saying he would not support ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) schemes taxing drivers outside London. Political opponents have claimed that the Labour leader is “panicking” because of the by-election defeat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip which his party was expected to win but lost because of fury over Sadiq Khan’s expansion of ULEZ. The planned announcement also appears to be a response to claims that his deputy Angela Rayner “let the cat out of the bag” by suggesting in a Sky News interview that ULEZ “will be coming to towns and cities across the UK.” Sir Keir had been a supporter of the ULEZ expansion until the by-election but has since failed to persuade Khan to drop the hated £12.50 a tax on vehicles deemed non-compliant. The Financial Times has claimed that Starmer will make an announcement of opposing ULEZ in towns and cities “other than London” as he comes under fire over green taxes and his cparty’s close association with the eco-zealot protest group Just Stop Oil. ULEZ has ignited a number of protests in London (Image: Getty) Reform UK London Mayor candidate and FairFuel UK founder Howard Cox said: “Labour’s policies towards drivers are in turmoil. “Flip flopping now by opposing new ULEZs outside London shows political hypocrisy as they continue to back their unpopular Mayor in keeping this cash grabbing scheme in the Capital. “On what planet is Labour’s front bench on? “They are clueless, without any sensible transport ideas in their mad panic pursuit for populist votes. They simply can’t be trusted.” Meanwhile, Conservative London Mayor candidate Susan Hall said: “Labour and Sadiq Khan are determined to hit motorists in their pockets and cannot be trusted to help people with the cost of living. “That is why it is so important that they are defeated in the elections next year. I will stop the ULEZ expansion on day one of my Mayoralty.” Susan Hall would cancel the ULEZ expansion (Image: Getty) It has been pointed out that Khan did not mention expanding ULEZ to outer London in his last manifesto as Mayor and he ignored the results of a consultation which showed widespread opposition. His claim that ULEZ would save 4,000 lives a year has also been disputed. But opponents have also noted that Starmer has made a number of U-turns when convnient and could have another one on ULEZ. These include running for the leadership in 2020 and promising to nationalise public services then ditching the policy; as well as claiming Jeremy Corbyn was not antisemitic and his friend before banning him from being a Labour candidate. More recently he dropped a pledge to end the limit on child benefit to just two children. His £28billion a year climate change package has also been dropped.