JENNI MURRAY: Why should my son have to pay the £12.50 ULEZ charge to visit his lonely mum?
- Jenni Murray voices her discontent at plans for how ULEZ is managed in London
- The UK writer worries this could leave city dwellers worse off and fine-ridden
- READ MORE: Sadiq Khan slammed over ‘nonsense data’ behind ULEZ scheme which council chief says didn’t take into account his region’s older population
Let me make clear that I am entirely in favour of efforts to cut pollution in all our great cities. London, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle are all making green transport plans — and, in general, I say good on you.
But the rumblings of discontent in my part of north London are becoming deafening as the overwhelming extent of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s traffic plans becomes clear. They’ll cause my family endless inconvenience, for one. We have had ULEZ for some time now. The Ultra Low Emission Zone covers central London as far as the North Circular.
It means anyone with an older ‘non-compliant’ vehicle has to pay £12.50 a day to drive it — and the zone is due to be extended almost to the M25. There’s no discount for residents and failing to pay gets you a £160 fine.
Now, I’m all right, Jack. My little Mini is five years old, so I don’t have to pay. If it’s true that pollution has been reduced, that’s good for me and my asthma. Not that I’ve noticed. It was only during the pandemic lockdown that I truly breathed easier, since there was barely any traffic at all.
These days the A1 and the North Circular, both near me, are constantly heavy with traffic. But my son, who lives in leafy Barnet, on the north-west edge of London, has not been able to visit for some time. He can’t be expected to find £12.50 every time his mum is feeling a bit lonely.
Writer Jenni Murray (pictured) voices her discontent at plans for how ULEZ is managed in London
You might say he could use public transport. Not easy when the journey between our homes is bus, Tube, bus, walk. Yet it takes only 20 minutes to drive.
Now the ULEZ is to extend to his area in August, he’ll have to get rid of his beloved old VW Golf and buy a younger model. In the throes of a cost-of-living crisis, very few people can afford that.
My husband is also a fan of the ancient classic car. His is an old Mini of the type I used to drive when we met some 43 years ago. He loves it, but he can’t bring it to London. Too expensive. He has to take the train and depend on me picking him up at the station. Again, public transport’s a no-no if you’re carrying bags, and even driving to crowded Waterloo is an absolute pain for me.
We’re reasonably mobile despite being no longer young, but my bad back makes getting around hard without my car.
Frail older people must be increasingly stuck at home. Indeed, we’ve heard of elderly residents unable to attend the funerals of their loved ones because they can’t afford the charge.
And now it emerges that four of the outer London councils which oppose the mayor’s plans say he’s using ‘nonsense data’ on air pollution deaths to justify this massive expansion of the ULEZ.
Even members of Sadiq’s own party fear this could leave Londoners ‘worse off’.
No kidding. Labour’s Business Minister, Seema Malhotra, says: ‘I am very concerned about the economic impact . . . on residents and small businesses.’ Then, of course, there are the LTNs — low traffic neighbourhoods. I have lots of friends who, at first, thought closing offquiet roads a really good idea. No more cars using their streets as a rat run.
The UK writer worries this could leave city dwellers worse off and fine-ridden. Pictured, a sign at Tower Hill in London
All OK until the fines started to come in. One friend went along a road she’d used for years. Then she was charged £50 by a new camera installed to catch people driving through a LTN.
When she asked why the road hadn’t just been blocked off, she was told it had to be clear to let ambulances through.
As to why the single, small warning sign was half-hidden by vegetation, answer came there none.
One friend used to nip to the shops in five minutes for her weekly trip. It now takes her 20 minutes to go round and round the houses at a snail’s pace.
My feeling is it’s all happening too quickly, without pausing to think through the consequences.
I’m all for the 20mph speed limits which Mr Khan imposed, boosting safety while making very little difference on London’s crowded streets.
And I jumped for joy at the proposal this week to switch off bright City lighting when it’s not necessary. Seeing the stars in a dark urban sky would be wonderful.
We do need to improve the quality of the air — but not at the expense of people’s quality of life.
Slow it down, Mr Khan. Bring the people with you thoughtfully. Not everyone has a chauffeur-driven car to take them to the park, as I seem to recall you did!
Jodie’s even better than Dame Judi
Jodie Comer pictured during the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards in London last year
I’ve been a passionate theatregoer for as long as I can remember and I’ve seen some sensational performances. Vanessa Redgrave in As You Like It blew teenage me away. Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Helen McCrory, Fiona Shaw, Diana Rigg, Eileen Atkins, Glenda Jackson — all as often as possible. And now, leading those greats, Jodie Comer. I didn’t get on with her TV show Killing Eve, too jokily violent for me. But the performance for which she won a WhatsOnStage Award this week, playing a barrister in Prima Facie, was beyond stunning. Honestly, the best I’ve ever seen.
‘Almost all UK waters are polluted,’ says Professor Penny Johnes, chair of the expert group advising the Government on sewage pouring into our rivers. Why are we paying millions to water companies who can’t give us a river that’s clean?
Emily Maitlis pictured in London, in May last year
Nobody gets to the top solo, Emily
So Billie Piper is to play the producer Sam McAlister in Scoop, the film about how Emily Maitlis demolished Prince Andrew in that infamous Newsnight interview.
What a pity that the two women should now be falling out in a squabble over who gets the credit.
Maitlis exposed Andrew’s arrogance towards the woman who accused him of sexual assault, with fearless questioning.
McAlister set the interview up and made it happen.
Don’t take all the credit, Emily.
My own career wouldn’t have been half what it was without a brilliant team behind the scenes.
Not quite my old maternity smocks!
It was 1983. I was heavily pregnant and carried on working as a reporter/presenter on South Today, the BBC’s regional TV programme.
I wore maternity dresses and smocks and didn’t expect to be seen as a disgrace.
And yet I was sent endless letters asking how dare I appear on TV in such a repulsive condition. Why was I taking a job from a man? Didn’t I have a husband to keep me?
A very pregnant Jessie J, donning an all-red ensemble, pictured during the Brit Awards earlier this month
How things change, as a fleet of pregnant young women turned up at the Brits revealing their naked bumps in specially designed outfits, from pop star Jessie J to Love Island’s Montana Brown and the singer Kamille.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but I’m afraid they’ve gone too far. Be proud of your pregnancy by all means, but do cover it up.
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