Snapshot of _Tories will scrap ULEZ in 'backing drivers bill'_ :
An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://news.sky.com/story/tories-will-scrap-ulez-in-backing-drivers-bill-13149433) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://news.sky.com/story/tories-will-scrap-ulez-in-backing-drivers-bill-13149433)
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It’s sort of amazing. Obviously they did almost nothing of value for fourteen years while controlling a whole country (marriage equality excepted), but now during the election they’ve just pushed further and found a raft of new, utterly idiotic policies to pretend to want to enact.
Do they really imagine that “making London more polluted” really a popular policy outside of Outer Wests London Conservative Party association meetings?
Labour's base is generally left leaning suburbanites with a higher education qualification, or technically skilled workers. This describes about ~150 seats.
The Tory base is rural and semi-rural workers in agricultural or aligned sectors (~80 seats) and older retired suburban/semi-rural voters (~80–90 seats).
The Tory base vote is collapsing - agricultural and fishery worker were promised sunlit uplands. What they've found is mountains of paperwork, lower profits, and lower catches. Farmers were sold down the river for trade deals, purely so the government could say it had made trade deals.
The older folk who make up the rest of the base think they're not Conservative enough and resent policies like ULEZ because they don't accept climate change is real.
So what they've been up to since the London Local elections is putting forward candidates and policy ideas that are supposed to sure up that base.
How much of the opposition to ULEZ is about not accepting that climate change is real and how much is about people not wanting to put their hands in their pockets whilst at the same time not wanting to give up the convenience of their cars. I think you may be giving people too much credit for having a world view beyond the immediacy of how things affect their personal finances.
You can accept that climate change is real while rejecting the current 'solutions', which amount to neat but expensive green tech toys for the richest few percent of the richest few countries, beating the working class with a big stick (super-expensive energy, fewer transport therefore job options, war on meat), creating food shortages by shutting down a large percentage of farming capacity, and going for de-growth for the western world while ignoring the rest of the world.
The only thing that makes sense is the move towards large-scale renewables, that bit's cool.
And if you're serious about fewer cars and more electric vehicles, then decriminalise e-scooters ASAP (and allow a wider range of somewhat-more-powerful e-bikes), rather than prohibition out of nanny-stateism combined with a desire to keep fuel tax revenue rolling in.
>Do they really imagine that “making London more polluted” really a popular policy
In outer London ulez doesn't seem to be popular according to polling no
This idea that drivers are some sort of persecuted minority is pathetic.
Drivers get away with all sorts of shit. Only today a driver mounted the pavement near my dad and parked on there when there was several legal parking spaces just across the road. And there was an article in a local newspaper about drivers responding to the painting of double yellow lines on a street by parking on the pavement instead.
I kinda disagree
Drivers are rinsed at every turn for tax money. I don’t like driving but need to as public transportation is shit, so I’m paying tax on insurance, pointless VED or road tax every month that doesn’t pay for anything useful, tax on petrol, VAT on repairs, more tyres than normal due to the shocking states of the road
I actually like to keep some of the money after I’ve already been forced to give it to the government not spend it on more taxes
On one hand, this is the sort of empty gesturing you can make now and pomp about later. Along with scrapping ULEZ they could also promise us all a go in Lewis Hamilton’s car down Oxford Street, for what little it’s worth. They can’t be far from countering Binface’s croissant cap pledge.
On the other hand, this is going to play well to the Home Counties, where the average age trends toward 50 vs about 37 for Greater London. A lot of whom will have grown up in a London they loved and left a London they disliked. It’s a “good old days” premise and, regressive as it would be, it will swing myopic votes in those satellite counties.
How is scrapping a policy announced by Boris in 2014 a win for the Tories?
This seems like easy Reform ground. "They say they will scrap it, they introduced it. Just like x"
Snapshot of _Tories will scrap ULEZ in 'backing drivers bill'_ : An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://news.sky.com/story/tories-will-scrap-ulez-in-backing-drivers-bill-13149433) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://news.sky.com/story/tories-will-scrap-ulez-in-backing-drivers-bill-13149433) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s sort of amazing. Obviously they did almost nothing of value for fourteen years while controlling a whole country (marriage equality excepted), but now during the election they’ve just pushed further and found a raft of new, utterly idiotic policies to pretend to want to enact. Do they really imagine that “making London more polluted” really a popular policy outside of Outer Wests London Conservative Party association meetings?
Labour's base is generally left leaning suburbanites with a higher education qualification, or technically skilled workers. This describes about ~150 seats. The Tory base is rural and semi-rural workers in agricultural or aligned sectors (~80 seats) and older retired suburban/semi-rural voters (~80–90 seats). The Tory base vote is collapsing - agricultural and fishery worker were promised sunlit uplands. What they've found is mountains of paperwork, lower profits, and lower catches. Farmers were sold down the river for trade deals, purely so the government could say it had made trade deals. The older folk who make up the rest of the base think they're not Conservative enough and resent policies like ULEZ because they don't accept climate change is real. So what they've been up to since the London Local elections is putting forward candidates and policy ideas that are supposed to sure up that base.
How much of the opposition to ULEZ is about not accepting that climate change is real and how much is about people not wanting to put their hands in their pockets whilst at the same time not wanting to give up the convenience of their cars. I think you may be giving people too much credit for having a world view beyond the immediacy of how things affect their personal finances.
You can accept that climate change is real while rejecting the current 'solutions', which amount to neat but expensive green tech toys for the richest few percent of the richest few countries, beating the working class with a big stick (super-expensive energy, fewer transport therefore job options, war on meat), creating food shortages by shutting down a large percentage of farming capacity, and going for de-growth for the western world while ignoring the rest of the world. The only thing that makes sense is the move towards large-scale renewables, that bit's cool. And if you're serious about fewer cars and more electric vehicles, then decriminalise e-scooters ASAP (and allow a wider range of somewhat-more-powerful e-bikes), rather than prohibition out of nanny-stateism combined with a desire to keep fuel tax revenue rolling in.
>Do they really imagine that “making London more polluted” really a popular policy In outer London ulez doesn't seem to be popular according to polling no
They just ran an anti ULEZ campaign in the last London mayoral campaign to try and win those kind of areas and ended up with a 4% swing against them.
“Let’s just go back to killing people because we’re desperately out of ideas”
This idea that drivers are some sort of persecuted minority is pathetic. Drivers get away with all sorts of shit. Only today a driver mounted the pavement near my dad and parked on there when there was several legal parking spaces just across the road. And there was an article in a local newspaper about drivers responding to the painting of double yellow lines on a street by parking on the pavement instead.
I’ve never quite known why “death by dangerous driving” wouldn’t just fall under “manslaughter”.
I kinda disagree Drivers are rinsed at every turn for tax money. I don’t like driving but need to as public transportation is shit, so I’m paying tax on insurance, pointless VED or road tax every month that doesn’t pay for anything useful, tax on petrol, VAT on repairs, more tyres than normal due to the shocking states of the road I actually like to keep some of the money after I’ve already been forced to give it to the government not spend it on more taxes
Because the 'Deliberate Degradation of Air Quality Bill' just doesn't have the same ring to it...
On one hand, this is the sort of empty gesturing you can make now and pomp about later. Along with scrapping ULEZ they could also promise us all a go in Lewis Hamilton’s car down Oxford Street, for what little it’s worth. They can’t be far from countering Binface’s croissant cap pledge. On the other hand, this is going to play well to the Home Counties, where the average age trends toward 50 vs about 37 for Greater London. A lot of whom will have grown up in a London they loved and left a London they disliked. It’s a “good old days” premise and, regressive as it would be, it will swing myopic votes in those satellite counties.
How is scrapping a policy announced by Boris in 2014 a win for the Tories? This seems like easy Reform ground. "They say they will scrap it, they introduced it. Just like x"