Private hire driver goes on a hunger strike against ULEZ expansion in London
A private hire driver is reportedly starving himself by camping out in a makeshift tent outside Uxbridge station in London for a week.
Prabhdeep Singh has been vocal about the difficulties he will have to face after the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion is introduced later this month in the capital city. He said the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan cannot be a “dictator…imposing whatever he wants on the people”.
Singh, who served in the British Army for around 10 years, will not eat or drink while on hunger strike. He decided to take the step as the ULEZ expansion will hit his private hire business and also limit how often he can drive from his home in Reading to the Sikh temple he attends in Hayes, West London.
According to MyLondon, his car does not meet the modern emission standards due to which he will have to cough up £12.50 on every visit from 29 August.
The father-of-two said: “I drive a car and it will be affected [by the ULEZ charge]. I attend a gurdwara in Hayes, but I will not be able to regularly drive to the temple. How can I pay £12.50 as a charity to the mayor’s pocket first, and then go the gurdwara?”
Following criticism regarding the expansion that has been deemed “controversial”, Khan has introduced a new opportunity for city residents who possess vehicles that do not comply with the regulations. They are now eligible to apply for a reimbursement of up to £2,000 to retire their cars. To finance these adjustments, the Mayor intends to allocate £50 million from City Hall’s reserves. As a result, the overall contribution to the scrappage fund will escalate from £110 million to £160 million, establishing it as the most generous scrappage initiative ever introduced in the UK, MyLondon reported.
Full list of changes announced in London
From August 21, eight days before the expansion:
- Every Londoner with a non ULEZ-compliant car will be eligible for a £2,000 grant
- Small businesses and sole traders will be able to receive up to £21,000 in grants to scrap up to three vans
- Charities will be able to receive up to £27,000 in grants to scrap up to three minibuses
From now:
- Small businesses and charities with a non-compliant van will receive increased payments of £7,000 (up from £5,000)
- Grants for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles will increase from £5,000 to £10,000
- Grants for scrapping Minibuses will increase from £7,000 to £9,000
- Grants to Replace a non-compliant van with electric van increase from £7,500 to £9,500
- Grants to replace a non-compliant minibus with an electric minibus increase from £9,500 to £11,500
- Retrofit grants increase from £5k to £6k, typically enough to cover the whole cost of retrofitting
In response to an inquiry from MyLondon last month regarding potential further assistance for owners of vehicles that do not meet the regulations, Khan expressed his commitment to continuing his attentiveness to the concerns of London residents.
Singh believes the Mayor needs to do what he has promised to Londoners and says he has been fortunate to receive immense support from members of the public passing his tent. He said: “[Sadiq Khan] is the mayor of the people. He’s not a dictator that can dictate and impose whatever he wants on the people.”
“He should listen to the people. People are already doing a lot [in terms of protesting] and they can’t do more than that. I’ve given my commitment to this nation by being in the British Army for nearly 10 years, so this hunger strike is another kind of battle I’m fighting.”
