Climate mandates: British taxpayers may soon pay per mile

British taxpayers are facing more climate mandates from the country’s Labour Party that may have them paying per mile even as some struggle under heavy ULEZ restrictions being rolled out this week.

Ultra-Low Emission Zones (ULEZs) are areas in London accessible only to low-emission vehicles. Cars that do not meet the city’s environmental standards are charged £12.50 ($16) for entering the ULEZ. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras positioned around the zones use AI technology to read license plates and check them against the vehicles’ make and model in real time. If a vehicle does not meet the environmental threshold, the fine is levied against the car owner. Failure to pay can lead to fines as high as £258 ($331).

Nearly half of London’s residents — over four million people — now live in ULEZs, which cover the North and South Circular Roads. On Tuesday, the ULEZ mandate expanded to encompass all London boroughs. The decision has drawn heavy protests from taxpayers and caused growing unrest, including the regular dismantling of ANPR cameras by taxpayers.

Now London Mayor Sadiq Khan is exploring plans to impose more climate mandates in the form of “road pricing” which would tax drivers per mile driven. According to the Daily Mail, papers produced by Khan’s office and Transport for London (TfL)—the city’s transportation department—outline how such a scheme would work:

New technology could be used to integrate existing schemes such as the Congestion Charge, Lez and Ulez into a smarter, simpler and fair scheme that would charge motorists on a per-mile basis.

Different charging rates would apply depending on variables such as how polluting a vehicle is, the level of congestion in the area and access to public transport.

Khan has reportedly denied such plans at this time, though TfL—which Khan chairs—says it ”is now looking to lead the way in introducing a new, more sophisticated type of road pricing.” The department is hiring tech engineers to help develop the necessary technology which would be used in conjunction with the ANPR cameras recently erected for the ULEZ program.

It is feared that Labour may also soon pursue a “road pricing” mandate for the general taxpaying public.

“Ulez is just the start for them,” a government source told the Daily Mail. “The next stage is driving cars off the road. Labour's vision is basically a carless society – certainly in the cities. They have been looking how to technically do this for every road.”

Like Khan, Labour has dismissed such claims, though the mayor has been forthright about his aim to make London 80% car-free by 2041.

Khan’s goal is even more ambitious than that of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which in May outlined a framework for a 75% reduction in private car transport by 2050 to reduce carbon emissions. By 2050, the WEF estimates there will be about 2.1 billion cars in use which will emit 4.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide. To save the planet from “climate change” the globalist organization aims to reduce the number of cars to 0.5 billion. 

But reducing private car ownership, which the WEF promises will save 75% of “urban space,” is only one component of the plan. Another, says the report, is to transform urban areas into “compact cities that enable and prioritize active mobility (walking, cycling)”. These “compact cities,” otherwise known as 15-minute cities, are where public services, recreation, schools and work are located within a 15-minute walk, obviating the need to drive.

Mayors around the globe are expressing support for Khan’s unpopular climate mandates, with some mayors pledging to follow suit. In July, the Spanish city of Valladolid announced plans to force non-electric cars off the road due to “climate change”. 

Other cities which are backing Khan’s climate mandates include Oslo, Montreal and Milan. Like Khan, the mayors of these cities are on the steering committee of C40, a George Soros-funded conglomerate of nearly 100 global mayors who have pledged to transform their cities to meet the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines.