Sadiq Khan Under Attack Over His London Border Tax Initiative

SADIQ KHAN Under Attack Over His London Border Tax Initiative which MPs claims will destroy livelihoods

The Mayor Of London, Sadiq Khan, has recently proposed the possibility of a ‘Greater London Boundary Charge’ of £5.50, to motorists who commute into London, in a bid to recoup finances hit by the pandemic, a move that could affect an estimated 1.3 million drivers a day from counties such as Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Surrey, and Kent.

The proposal has brought criticism from many MP’s, with the Conservative MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon, reported by the Express.co.uk as having written an official letter last Thursday 11 to Mark Ingall, the Labour leader of Harlow Council, co-signed by the leader of Harlow Conservatives, Councillor Andrew Johnson.

Reportedly, the letter said, “Hundreds of hard-working Harlow residents commute into London every day in vans and by car. The Labour mayor is proposing to clobber these workers with an extra £1,000 a year bill in the form of a ‘border tax’ just to go to work. This would absolutely destroy the livelihoods of so many residents at a time when we should be doing everything possible to support them”.

It continues, “The taxpayer has already bailed TfL out twice to the value of over £3.4 billion and now they are being asked to pay even more. As Harlow residents are now able to vote against these measures, we ask that you immediately write to your Labour colleague to express your opposition to a measure that would ruin so many small businesses and self-employed workers”.

Adding, “Furthermore, we ask that you support a cross-party motion at the next council meeting to condemn the mayor’s plans and express your support for Harlow residents in opposing the ‘border tax'”.

The minister for London, Tory MP Paul Scully, writing in the Evening Standard, said, “Sadiq’s new land border with the Home Counties – his Checkpoint Chigwell – is not the answer. He should put away the map table and go back to the drawing board”.

Responding, a spokesperson for the London mayor said, “The mayor has repeatedly urged the Government to allow London to retain the £500m of Vehicle Excise Duty paid by Londoners every year but which is currently spent almost exclusively on maintaining roads outside the capital”.

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