Sadiq Khan’s car-tax ‘fixation’ is a threat to cancer patients who would have to pay crippling new tax every time they drive to hospital for vital appointments, doctors warn
- Mayor Sadiq Khan is expanding ULEZ to incorporate the Royal Marsden hospital
- Medics urged Mr Khan to exempt hospital staff and patients from daily charge
Senior doctors have accused Sadiq Khan of endangering the lives of cancer patients by hitting them with a ‘crippling’ new tax every time they drive to hospital for vital appointments.
The Labour Mayor of London is expanding his controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to incorporate the Royal Marsden hospital in Sutton – whose car park is right on the border of the new charging zone. Medics urged Mr Khan to exempt hospital staff and patients from the £12.50 daily charge but his office has refused.
Last night, there were fears that vulnerable patients may be unable to afford to attend appointments at the hospital, home to a world-leading cancer centre opened earlier this month by Prince William.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Sadiq refuses to listen to sense. It’s almost like an ideological fixation. This wouldn’t be such a problem if there were brilliant public transport options, but there aren’t. There’s no Tube and the buses aren’t reliable. People around here rely on their cars because they have to.’
Older vehicles are more likely to be non-Ulez compliant, meaning poorer people may feel the brunt.
The Labour Mayor of London is expanding his controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to incorporate the Royal Marsden hospital in Sutton
Medics urged Mr Khan to exempt hospital staff and patients at the Royal Marsden hospital from the £12.50 daily charge but his office has refused
Neil Garratt, London Assembly member for Sutton, said: ‘The catchment area of the Marsden is large – people come from a long way away to get specialist care. It’s perverse to charge them for entering London when the hospital is right on the border with Surrey.’
Minister for London Paul Scully, who is the MP for Sutton, said: ‘The whole Ulez expansion should be scrapped – but failing that, moving the boundary just 100 yards could save a whole load of people from this crippling extra charge.’
Mr Khan introduced the Ulez scheme to Central London in April 2019. Last year he announced it would be widened to all boroughs ‘to tackle air pollution and the climate crisis’. The expanded zone will come into force on August 29.
Drivers whose cars do not meet strict pollution criteria will have to pay £12.50 a day. The charges apply for 24 hours every day of the year except Christmas Day.
Five Tory councils have launched a High Court challenge to the Ulez expansion, and their case is due to be heard this summer. Meanwhile, even an independent assessment commissioned by Mr Khan himself found that expanding the scheme would have ‘a negligible beneficial impact on carbon emissions in Greater London’.
Last night a spokesman said the Mayor plans to launch a network of express buses in outer London to reduce car use.
They added: ‘The Mayor has been clear that the decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone London-wide wasn’t easy, but he has a duty to tackle toxic air pollution for the health of all Londoners.’
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