London Mayor Sadiq Khan has changed his mind and declared that he supports sending four wheel drive cars to Ukraine, which would otherwise be scrapped under the ULEZ scrapping programme.
Source: The Telegraph; European Pravda
Details: The London Mayor previously did not support the delivery of cars that did not meet ULEZ requirements to Ukraine, as, according to him, it would not benefit Londoners in environmental, economic and social terms.
However, after a media campaign and numerous appeals, Khan changed his mind and asked Transport Secretary Mark Harper to make it “possible for Londoners, and others across the country, to donate suitable vehicles to Ukraine through scrappage schemes.”
In the letter to Harper, which the mayor of London wrote with former Defence Minister Ben Wallace, it is said that the delivery of cars to Ukraine would become possible if the relevant national rules were changed.
ULEZ aims to clean up London’s air by requiring drivers of high-emission vehicles in the city to pay a GBP 12.50 levy. Londoners can get up to GBP 2,000 for scrapping their car if it doesn’t meet ULEZ emissions standards. As a rule, all-wheel drive cars and pickup trucks are covered by the programme.
“We are optimistic you will work with us to enable Londoners and others around the country to receive money for taking polluting vehicles off our cities’ streets while providing vital support towards the people of Ukraine,” Khan and Wallace wrote.
Earlier, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was Khan’s predecessor as mayor of London, called the London mayor’s refusal to hand over the cars to Ukraine “petty and ridiculous”.
“The Ukrainians are more than capable of solving the quality of air problems themselves, what they need is help now to defeat a threat that is infinitely more dangerous, and that is president Putin. Khan’s actions seem to be extraordinary,” Johnson said.
Background: On 16 December, Sadiq Khan refused to send the cars handed over by residents of the UK capital as part of a programme to combat harmful emissions to Ukraine on request of Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko.
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