In 2015, Boris Johnson, then London’s mayor, announced plans to create an Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) in the core of the city — which demonstrates that many of the UK’s Conservative Party members aren’t all that conservative. In the ULEZ, vehicles that weren’t certified as low-emission vehicles would face an emissions charge.
Under Johnson’s scheme, the ULEZ would be a small “congestion zone” in the heart of the city beginning in 2020, but his successor Sadiq Khan began the plan a year earlier. The original “congestion zone” encompassed roughly eight square miles, but Khan expanded the ULEZ in 2021 to about 146 square miles.
A more controversial expansion last year brought the ULEZ into all of London’s boroughs, covering 600 square miles. Khan wanted to broaden the ULEZ even more in 2025 — including a Zero Emissions Zone — but those plans came to naught.
While government estimates suggest that 90% of the cars in the ULEZ are compliant, roughly 700,000 cars in Greater London would be subject to the emissions charge. The ULEZ program uses license plate readers to determine who is in and out of the city and who has to pay for their gauche non-ultra-low-emitting cars.
There’s a Big Brother element to it all, as the city’s transportation website explains (emphasis in the original):
To help clear London’s air, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year, except Christmas Day (25 December). The zone operates across all London boroughs, and does not include the M25.
If your vehicle doesn't meet the ULEZ emissions standards and isn't exempt, you need to pay a £12.50 daily charge to drive within the zone. This applies to cars, motorcycles, vans and specialist vehicles (up to and including 3.5 tonnes) and minibuses (up to and including 5 tonnes).
Lorries, vans or specialist heavy vehicles (all over 3.5 tonnes) and buses, minibuses and coaches (all over 5 tonnes) do not need to pay the ULEZ charge. They will need to pay the LEZ charge if they do not meet the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) emissions standard.
Owners of non-UK registered vehicles also need to meet the ULEZ emissions standards or pay the daily charge to drive within the zone. Vehicles need to be registered with our partner EPC plc, even if they meet the emissions standards.
How generous of the city to allow people to produce emissions for free on Christmas! For reference, that daily fine of £12.50 is the equivalent of $15.84 as of this writing.
Khan has a plan for people who don’t have compliant cars. Owners can either sell their vehicles for scrap or donate them to Ukraine. (Because I guess they’re good enough for Ukraine even when they’re not good enough for London.) Either way, those owners receive £2,000 [$2,531.73] for a car and up to £1,000 [$1,265.87] for a motorcycle — a pittance compared to the purchase price of a newer vehicle.
On top of that, the city’s autopay system is not playing nice. The Guardian reports about one man who set up autopay after he unknowingly drove into the ULEZ. The city promptly took £700 [$886.11] out of his bank account.
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It’s easy to see why Londoners aren’t happy about the latest expansion of the ULEZ. Not only has license plate cloning become a major issue, but Londoners are also destroying the plate-reading cameras.
A group of vigilantes who call themselves “Blade Runners” are damaging and tearing down the cameras.
News: Further Fellings In Feltham: The ongoing conflict between the vigilante group known as the Blade Runners and microscopic sized Mayor Sadiq Khan rages on. There seems to be no stopping these mystery men.
— Herd Immunity News🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@HerdImmunity12) February 28, 2024
This young ULEZ camera pictured, was Felled in Feltham, following a… pic.twitter.com/diKecQ4C6w
İngiliz direniş grubu Blade Runners, Ulez'in kameralarını yok etmeye devam ediyor.
— 🇹🇷Albayrak🇹🇷 (@Sorgulayan1Can) February 27, 2024
Toplamda, sürücülerden alınan ücretler aracılığıyla otomobillerden atmosfere emisyon seviyesinin azaltılmasına yardımcı olan 2,5 ila 3 bin kamera imha edilirken, 500'den fazlası restore edilmedi. pic.twitter.com/f4qfoYhk0w
“A pair of Ulez cameras have been targeted with heat guns and electric saws in new attacks by vigilante ‘Blade Runners’ demonstrating against the controversial scheme, new footage on social media shows,” GB News reports.
“Blade Runners” are cutting down cameras with saws, climbing up them to break them, and burning them with heat guns. And they’re specifically sticking it to the mayor with statements like “frying some Ulez for breakfast… have some of that” and “unlucky Mr. Khan, here’s another one… gutted for you.”
BLADE RUNNERS ROCK!!! CUTTING THE CONTROL THEY ARE IMPOSING!! pic.twitter.com/60gYTb9X19
— Thomas Greenberg (@tommyrazorcuts) February 28, 2024
The Bromley News Shopper reports that Londoners covered one toppled camera with dog poop. Commenters on social media expressed their solidarity with the “Blade Runners.”
Not shockingly, London isn’t thrilled with the acts of civil disobedience. Khan said that “protest should be lawful, safe and peaceful” and added, “It is really important to stay on the right side of the law.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement, “The Met continues to treat criminal activity in relation to Ulez seriously and has deployed considerable resources to our operation.”
I know we're not supposed to condone this type of behavior, but there's something admirable about the way the "Blade Runners" are sticking it to the man. Way to take a stand against big government!
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