We’ve all been there. Stuck in the wrong seat at a dinner party or cornered in someone’s kitchen by a friend of a friend, usually a man, who confidently informs you that advertising doesn’t work on them – they’re too smart. Ignoring the fact they’re dressed head to toe in J. Crew, listening eyes affixed, you smile politely for a few minutes before inventing a sudden need for the toilet or a death in the family.
Marketing doesn’t mean you’ll buy any old product, but there’s a reason why the growing Conservative movement against the extension to the Ultra-low emission zone (explainer here) is couched in the language of fairness and freedom, rather than, say, because they want you and your children to choke to death. I’ve not run focus groups on this but my instinct suggests that would poll badly.
Yes, it’s another air quality newsletter. Not only because I live on a busy road and don’t own a car, but because today the Evening Standard launched the next phase of our Plug It In campaign. In the event you haven’t read the 10,000-word white paper, let me provide a précis.
The initiative aims to accelerate the clean-up of London’s toxic air by encouraging more drivers to ditch their polluting petrol/diesel cars and switch to zero-tailpipe emission vehicles. This will boost air quality in the capital, cut carbon emissions and generally improve well-being. Of course, getting there is the difficult (and let’s admit it, sometimes tedious) part. Proposals include:
- Removing VAT on public chargers
- Capping premium rates on rapid chargers
- Devising an Oyster-style card giving Londoners access to all charging points and a flat rate across the city
- Overcoming resistance to EVs by encouraging test drives
- Making it easier for firms to build chargers – and harder not to
- Removing petrol and diesel cars from London as soon as possible
- Lobbying for the reinstatement of EV subsidies.
- Growing the second-hand market to make EVs more affordable
There has been some progress made in recent years – the number of fully electric vehicles rose by 53 per cent in the 12 months to last September. But let’s not kid ourselves – we are closer to the start line than the finish.
Just one in 20 cars in the capital are either battery electric or plug-in hybrids. EVs comprised just 16.6 per cent of new car sales last year, compared with nearly 80 per cent in Norway. A major stumbling block is access to charging points.
London has around 11,000 but that is nowhere near enough. Analysis suggests at least another 40,000 are needed by 2030, of which 10 per cent should be rapid, meaning they deliver a full charge in under an hour. The capital’s density is an advantage, but with 60 per cent of Londoners lacking off-street parking, we will need to get creative.
The trends, at least in the short term, are not getting easier. More Conservative-led councils have opposed the Ulez extension, threatening legal action and refusing to place signs and cameras. Today, the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip and hitherto convert to climate action came out against the extension, calling it a “ruinous cash-grab.” Some London Labour MPs are against it too.
There is of course a mayoral election coming in May 2024, a general election sometime after and the Tories need to offer something to someone. And it is true that around 15 per cent of vehicles in the new Greater London zone will be subject to the daily charge. That is why there is a constituency for delay. All politics is local – but so too is the air pollution killing us.
Elsewhere in the paper, trepidatious as I am to ever mention Australia in public again, government officials from Western Australia are coming to London next week and our not being shy about their intentions. “We are here to steal your workers,” said Paul Papalia, the police and defence industry minister, who is leading the delegation.
In the comment pages, Ben Judah warns that Vladimir Putin is about to unleash his jets, and Britain must find ways to help Ukraine. Homes & Property Editor Prudence Ivey brings some sanity to the 15-minute city debate, saying they will offer more freedom, not less. While Sarfraz Manzoor admits he once scorned inherited privilege... until he annoyingly remembered he enjoyed it too.
And finally, meet the Hedgecutter of Highbury (that guy who’s turning London’s hedges into animal topiary.)
