Sadiq Khan has told Londoners to judge him on his record on transport policies, including cycle superhighways and low traffic neighbourhoods, at the mayoral election on May 2.
The Labour candidate, who is campaigning for a record third term at City Hall, following eight years as mayor of the capital, spoke at a BBC London hustings in Tottenham last night, which covered crime, housing and transport.
Asked by host Eddie Nestor at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre whether “you have brought Londoners with you” when it came to controversial transport and climate policies such as expanding the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) to outer London, Khan said: “Well, we’ll find out on May 2.
“It’s really important, we’ve got to make sure we make it easier for people to walk and cycle. I’m really proud we’ve increased six-fold the amount of safe cycling.”
It came as Conservative candidate Susan Hall and Liberal Democrat contender Rob Blackie took Khan to task over his transport record.
Hall, former Harrow council leader and ex-City Hall Tory group leader, insisted opposition to the ULEZ expansion was “absolutely still a thing” and stressed: “I will absolutely get rid of it on day one, there is no question.”
She added: “When you listen to the problems of Londoners, who cannot afford to replace their car, so they have to use it, they have to then pay Sadiq Khan £12.50 a day.
“They simply cannot afford it. Sometimes they have to take parents to hospital appointments, they have to get to work – it is a real situation, not in inner London, but if you go to outer London.”
Blackie called Khan out on his claim he had “frozen TfL fares in five of the last eight years”.
The Lib Dem hopeful said: “That’s not true, that’s only true if you don’t count travelcards.”
But Khan hit back, insisting it was a “20 per cent reduction, according to inflation” and that London’s bus fares were “the cheapest in the country”.
Blackie also said his own car had not been ULEZ compliant when the initial scheme was brought in across inner London.
“I was one of those people who to my surprise discovered my car wasn’t right,” he said.
“But because I had a couple of years it wasn’t so difficult. In outer London, Sadiq brought in the ULEZ with about nine months’ notice and that made it a lot harder for people to adapt.”
He added: “It’s really important we have to take people with us if we’re going to make these big changes for the environment. If we have too much controversy around it, people will rebel against it and we won’t be successful.”
While Green Party hopeful Zoe Garbett backed the pay-per-mile idea the Tories have criticised Khan over – and he has distanced himself from.
She said: “This is all about fairness. I’d have a conversation with Londoners about the charging model that they want – I’m not saying I’d bring it in immediately.
“I think the families Susan is talking about would benefit from pay-per-mile because its not about having one charge for one day, it’s about looking at how heavy people’s cars are, the general emissions, how far they travel, where they travel.
“It would be cheaper if you’re in a place with less public transport. It’s all about making public transport a lot cheaper and getting people ready by improving it and improving connections, especially in outer London.
“We need to be bold – we are in a climate emergency.”
The mayoral election will take place on Thursday, May 2, with the results declared on Saturday, May 4. The hustings, titled ‘A Mayor for London’ will be broadcast on Thursday, April 25, at 8pm on BBC One.