Sadiq Khan is brutally heckled by Londoners over his hated ULEZ expansion plans and told to ‘stop lying’ about the real reason behind the tax on motorists – as he is rapped by watchdog on data transparency
Sadiq Khan was told to ‘stop lying’ by a heckler last night as he sought to defend his controversial Ulez expansion plans – as watchdogs rapped him for a ‘lack of data transparency’ over his justification for the scheme.
The Labour politician sought to defend his flagship clean air policy at LBC’s State of London debate at the 02 Arena after heavy criticism for lumbering hard-pressed families and businesses with extra costs.
Explaining to presenter James O’Brien how he hoped the Ultra Low Emission Zone will cover all of London from August, Mr Khan said: ‘Each year, in our city, around 4,000 people die prematurely, directly, because of air pollution. There are children in our city with stunted lungs, permanently, because of air pollution.’
At this point a heckler berated Mr Khan over the scientific evidence he had used to justify Ulez, with the man arguing he had ‘misconstrued it’.
‘No-one has died, stop lying!’ he shouted – as Mr O’Brien urged him to stop because he did not have a microphone so could not be heard by the radio audience.
An anti-Ulez heckler shouting at Sadiq Khan during the State of London Debate at the O2 Arena in Greenwich
Mr Khan continued by saying that Government’s figures show 36,000 people died in the UK because of air pollution.
Heckled again, he continued: ‘We introduced the Ulez in central London. In two years, it reduced the poison by 50% but it also led to a third fewer children being admitted in hospital.’
It came as the Mayor was criticised for a lack of ‘transparency’ after he claimed 90 per cent of cars would escape paying any charges under the scheme.
READ MORE – Research finds no ‘clear’ proof controversial zones slash rates of lung conditions
Motorists driving in or through the outer suburbs of London will have to pay a £12.50 daily levy or a £180 fine after August 29 if they pollute too much under the new standards.
But the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) told the Mayor to provide more details to back up his statement, adding that it was part of a pattern where the mayor’s Transport for London (TfL) agency made public claims without publishing supporting evidence.
The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the independent regulatory arm of the UKSA, looked at what Mr Khan has said about ULEZ after Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson complained that his claim was ‘misleading’.
In a letter to Ms Wilson, UKSA chairman Sir Robert Chote said: ‘We are satisfied that data collected by TfL at the time supports the Mayor’s claim that nine in 10 cars seen driving in outer London now meet ULEZ standards.
‘However, data on households in outer London who have a car that meet ULEZ emissions standards are not available.
‘The statement made by the Mayor relating to households in outer London is therefore not supported by publicly available data.
At this point one audience member berated Mr Khan over the scientific evidence he had used to justify Ulez, with the man arguing he had ‘misconstrued it’
‘The data underlying the Mayor’s claim on cars driving in outer London were not available to the general public at the time, either from the Mayor’s office or from TfL.
‘Users requesting clarification were provided with additional information but that too was not made available on an equal basis to the general public.’
Sir Robert said that this was ‘inconsistent’ with ‘principles of intelligent transparency’ and the Code of Practice for Statistics to which the Mayor and TfL voluntarily subscribe.
‘This case is one of several examples raised with us in which TfL has made statements or issued press releases based on unpublished TfL data or where data quoted are not provided with sufficient context,’ he said.
‘This prevents interested members of the public from being able to verify the figures, which can undermine trust in the organisations producing the analysis and their other outputs.
‘While some additional information has now been published, I would urge the Mayor and TfL to make this material fully accessible to support understanding on what is a topic of high public interest.’
Anti-ULEZ protesters holding a rally at Marble Arch earlier this week
Ms Wilson said the Mayor ‘has serious questions to answer’.
She said: ‘The case for delaying this scheme is now overwhelming. Not even the Mayor knows how many households in outer London have non-compliant cars.’
A spokesperson for Sadiq Khan said: ‘City Hall welcomes confirmation that the OSR is content with the accuracy of the statement that nine out of ten cars seen driving on an average day in outer London are ULEZ compliant.
‘We note that further background explaining the data should have been provided at the time.’
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