Councillor Max Sullivan

A LABOUR councillor has urged his party “to stand up and be counted” when it comes to clean air policies – after leader Sir Keir Starmer called for a review of the expansion of the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ).

Bayswater councillor Max Sullivan – Westminster City Council’s deputy air quality chief – warned his party’s leader in a stinging letter that he was “supremely disappointed” with his “flawed and simplistic” reaction to the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election defeat.

Sir Keir had blamed the narrow 495-votes loss in the former Tory stronghold on the Mayor of London’s ULEZ expansion policy, and called on Sadiq Khan to put the important but unpopular plan under review.

Labour’s candidate Danny Beales had shocked climate change campaigners during the campaign by insisting it was “not the right time” to press ahead with the expansion.

But this week Cllr Sullivan told Extra: “We have got to win power as a political party – but we have got to win power while holding onto our principles. Everyone who cares about this issue has to stand up and be counted on this.”

He said it was important for politicians to have the conviction to push on with ridding the city from disgusting and dangerous air pollution, and added: “I want all members of the Labour Party and people in central London to loudly and proudly support the proven measures. They are urgent. There is no safe level of air pollution. We can’t move quickly enough.”

The ULEZ is an area of where a fee is charged for driving the most polluting vehicles in central London. Sadiq Khan is due to expand the zone to include outer London next month.

Cllr Sullivan had been out campaigning for Danny Beales on polling day but said he had not personally heard the ULEZ mentioned during knocking on doors or from party organisers.

Sir Keir Starmer

On the result, he said: “There are people closer to the campaign than I was. But it was always going to be a stretch to win Uxbridge. I think the result shows how people feel about Labour, and that is a huge credit that the work Keir and Angela Rayner have done to get us on a better footing nationally.

“Yes we didn’t win. But it’s also worth recognising it was a tall order. It was. There are probably 500 ways, theories, how to win 500 votes.”

Cllr Sullivan said the ULEZ had reduced toxic NO2 levels in Westminster by 50 per cent and that it was making improvements in the air that may not always be palpable.

He said: “From my perspective I know how much residents care about the quality of the air we breathe. This has a very real world impact, especially for children whose lungs are developing. We have to look at societal solutions to that problem because it is not something individual people have direct control over.

“There is no safe level of air pollution. This really affects people’s lives.

“Are there any viable alternatives being put forward by Conservative in Westminster or elsewhere? No, there aren’t.

“We do have to take people on a journey with us. Things like ULEZ are difficult. But it’s the right thing to do. Think about the smoking ban.

“That was similar to ULEZ. But would anyone want to turn back the clock on that now? I don’t see any candidates standing on that.”

Cllr Sullivan, who was elected during Labour’s historic council win in 2022 suggested further improvements including road user charging, something that is being considered in Ireland and Wales. The scheme sees drivers pay per mile they drive in a bid to further hammer home the true cost of using the car to get about.

Danny Beales lost out and blamed ULEZ

“It is being seriously looked at in lots of countries. But it is not being looked at by our national government,” said Cllr Sullivan.

“My concern with the ULEZ is that it is not going to entirely solve pollution. We should go further and faster.”

Cllr Sullivan said he had lots of encouraging words from colleagues about his letter, which was posted on social media, adding that he was looking forward to “moving on”.

Mr Beales had been listed as a runaway 1/20 favourite with the bookmakers to the take the seat made vacant by Boris Johnson’s resignation in the wake of Partygate.

Thousands of Labour activists had flooded the constituency for weeks to ensure victory, but he ended up falling short.

Instead of being paraded at a national Labour Party policy event in Nottingham as a new MP, he stood up and insisted the ULEZ was “bad policy” as people were already struggling to pay their bills in the cost of living crisis.

Westminster’s cabinet member for city management & air quality Paul Dimoldenberg told Extra: “The latest report from the GLA in February this year shows that the ULEZ scheme has reduced harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels by 46 per cent in central London and by 21 per cent in inner London than they would have been without the scheme.

“The mayor is right to expand the ULEZ scheme into the rest of London and I would like to see a more generous car scrappage scheme introduced, financed by the government, to enable drivers on low incomes to change their car more easily. With the climate emergency becoming more real each day, this is not the time to retreat on taking action, but it is time for everyone to pull together.”

The city council has recently launched a fleet of electric-powered dustbin trucks with contractor Veolia.