A cacophony of car horns and whistles sound over London Bridge, amid chants of “Get Khan Out”. There are banners reading “Stop The Toxic Air Lie” and “Our Roads, Our Freedom”. An elderly gentleman with a white beard mills about in a hi-vis vest with ‘Stop The Khanage’ printed on it. A middle-aged man in jeans and a T-shirt and a baseball cap, wearing a Puma rucksack on his front, waves a placard with a picture of Mayor Sadiq Khan and the words ‘LIAR LIAR’. The atmosphere is a mix of anger, defiance and the restless boredom that comes with milling about at a demonstration in the sunshine.
Hundreds of people are here to protest the expansion of the ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) across outer London. It will mean that from August 29, drivers in Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon will have to pay a £12.50 daily fee if their vehicles do not meet required emissions standards. Sadiq Khan claims the plan will improve air quality and save lives, but next month five Conservative-led councils will challenge the proposal in the High Court.
