WILL drivers ever trust the Labour Party again?
Sir Keir Starmer has scrapped Labour’s policy plans for clean air zones, similar to London’s Ulez expansion, across the country.
The pollsters’ favourite to become our next prime minister has ditched the proposals to cut carbon emissions from polluting vehicles after his party’s Uxbridge by-election defeat.
It’s a U-turn a rally driver would be proud of.
So can motorists now truly rely on Labour to tackle the numerous anti-driver issues pouring out of Westminster and local authorities across the UK?
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Or is the about-turn just an opportunistic wheeze to secure votes in the lead-up to the next general election?
One thing for sure is that losing Uxbridge, in the suburbs of North West London, really rattled the party — and boosted the Tories.
Suddenly, motoring is at the top of the political agenda.
The Conservatives see it as a wedge issue that creates a clear divide with the Opposition.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently tweeted a picture of himself behind the wheel of Margaret Thatcher’s old Rover while labelling Labour “anti-motorist”.
Sir Keir has insisted he won’t back low-emission schemes “that dispro-portionately impact on people in the middle of the cost-of-living crisis”.
All roads lead back to Uxbridge when looking for a reason for this new-found political background.
Labour’s unsuccessful candidate there, Danny Beales, said Ulez had “cut us off at the knees” as the Tories clung on to Boris Johnson’s old seat.
The sheer strength of feeling now swelling against the anti-motorist policy seems to have shaken Labour’s policy wonks.
Protestors against the £12.50 charge to drive certain cars in Greater London included Prabhdeep Singh, 41, who went on a seven-day hunger strike.
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The Reading cab driver said: “It is discrimination! Against old people, young people, poorer people — anyone who cannot afford to replace their car whenever they feel like it. Just like the policy to phase out petrol and diesel cars in 2030. It’s madness. Like a dictatorship!”
Then there are the so-called Blade Runners, a group who have launched a campaign to sabotage the tech that enforces the scheme and leads to fines of up to £180 for non-compliance.
When Extinction Rebellion founder Roger Hallam came out against the Ulez extension, the game was surely up for the clean air zone.
Hallam rightly pointed out that London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the Ulez was “intrusive” and “regressive”.
He was referring to hard-working people who can’t afford to upgrade their motors now being slammed with a £12.50 daily charge to go to work or take their kids to school.
Hallam, again on the button, took aim at the “urban middle-class, neo-liberal Left” backing this loathed scheme that targets less well off motorists.
Little wonder then, for the dramatic Sir Keir U-turn.
The Labour leader told his party “we have to face up” to the electoral damage caused by the policy.
He added: “We are doing something very wrong if policies put forward by the Labour Party end up on each and every Tory leaflet.”
Yet London’s Labour mayor is pushing full steam ahead with his Ulez expansion due to come into force on August 29.
So while Labour is saying it now doesn’t support similar schemes in other parts of the country, it is pushing ahead in London. It makes no sense and frankly stinks of double standards.
I don’t think I’m alone among drivers in worrying that Labour’s traditional anti-motorist agenda is only on temporary hold and that our wallets will be rinsed if they win the next election.
Labour is now making it clear that it is in fact the Tories who are to blame for Ulez-type zones.
A party source said: “Clean air zones are Conservative government policy.
"The Tories are the ones who have pushed councils to introduce them. Labour is not in favour of extra burdens on drivers during a Tory-made cost-of-living crisis.”
I nearly fell off my chair with incredulity.
What about poorer driver’s in outer London who are about to be clobbered by a Labour mayor?
FIGHTING TOOTH AND NAIL
So now both major parties are vying for the support of car owners.
Recently the Prime Minister ordered a review of low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) schemes, saying he was on the side of the motorist.
Labour responded by accusing the Government of “pure hypocrisy”, saying the Conservatives had “accelerated and funded the use of LTNs”.
Both parties are fighting tooth and nail for motorists’ votes, so let me make a policy suggestion for these apparent converts to the internal combustion engine.
Reverse the ridiculous law on banning new diesel and petrol car sales by 2030.
It is too soon and too expensive. If they really loved the motorist, they’d pledge to scrap this legislation now.
But I’m not holding my breath.
The only thing I’m sure of is that long-suffering motorists will continue to be an easy and convenient cash cow for whoever gets the keys to No 10 next.
