17 Jun Stephen Metcalfe welcomes Conservative plan to abolish ULEZ expansion and enshrine in law the rights of motorists against ‘pay-per-mile’ plans
Stephen Metcalfe is standing for re-election in South Basildon and East Thurrock and has welcomed the Conservative plan to abolish ULEZ expansion and enshrine in law the rights of motorists against radical ‘pay-per-mile’ plans.
Stephen said: “I am proud that, since 2010, I have played a critical role in advocating for the rights of motorists in Parliament.
I’ve voted to freeze fuel duty for 14 years straight, I’ve secured millions for road resurfacing and I spoke out strongly against Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ in the House of Commons – pressing the Government to do everything in its power to stop Khan’s disastrous tax on older vehicles.
Therefore, I am very pleased that the Conservatives have agreed that we are going to take bold action and abolish the expansion of ULEZ if we are re-elected and enshrine in law the rights of motorists against ‘pay-per-mile’ plans.”
Through a new ‘Backing Drivers Bill’, the Conservatives will build on last autumn’s ‘Plan for Drivers’ with a package of bold action to protect drivers from anti-motorist policies.
The new Bill would reverse Sadiq Khan’s unpopular ULEZ expansion which is taxing drivers from Essex who travel into Greater London’s boundaries.
Additionally, the Bill would ban ‘pay-per-mile’ road taxes. This addresses comments made by Sadiq Khan in 2022 that he had instructed TfL to ‘moving us towards a smart road user charging scheme’ ‘where people pay per mile depending on what time of day they drive, what their vehicle is, what the alternatives are to driving their car and so forth.’
The Conservatives have also pledged to rule out the blanket implementation of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20mph zones which have not received any local consent.
Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, said: “We will continue to build on our clear plan for drivers and make sure they are supported in the face of Labour politicians desperate to tax them off the roads.
We will reverse Sadiq Khan’s unfair ULEZ expansion and rule out any blanket 20mph zones because we are on drivers’ side. And we will rule out any pay-per-mile road tax to keep costs for drivers down.
There’s a clear choice at this election – Labour who will continue to penalise drivers or the Conservatives who will back drivers.”
