ULEZ and other similar schemes we are being told are all about clean air for everybody but are they really just a means of making money from motorists?

[Graham Butcher]

Are we really being told the honest truth here and not being treated as a cash cow for cash strapped local authorities or whatever? I have long thought that motorists have been the target for many local authorities starting with the introduction of parking wardens and parking meters and the whole thing seems to be getting out of hand.

 

It is a fact that the air quality here in the UK is really very good and there are a number of websites that enable you to actually check the quality of the air in your locality along with that of other places both here in the UK and globally and every time I check, it is mostly in the good area.

 

I present you 2 videos with historical data going back to 2014, so well before the ULEZ scheme came into effect in London and of course since, then the expansion of that into all London Boroughs this year.

 

The figures are not supporting the claims used for the introduction of these zones, and the same can be said for the other parts of the UK where these zones have been introduced and others being planned. The videos clearly demonstrate this can there are links contained with YT videos that you can click on and download the reports etc that are used within the videos. 

 

I will post the links to the videos rather than embed them, as when they are embedded you cannot see the links I'm referring to, but you can on YT. 

 

(161) ULEZ Report Debunked! [Feb 2023] - YouTube

 

(161) ULEZ: ONE Month On - Has Air Quality Improved? - YouTube

 

Edited 10 October, 2023 by Graham Butcher

[J.R.]

My local authority does not get any money out of me, I've paid from €100 to €200 to register my vehicles which I keep for well over a decade, no road tax so the Carte Grise cost is spread over as many years as you keep the vehicle, no other taxes whatsoever.

 

I have paid for car parking once in the last 25 years that I can recall, an evening in the centre of Lille, had I had more time I could have parked for free but there was a rugby or football match on and the city centre was rammed.

 

My tipping trailer, the only legal one of the fleet cost €13 to register.

 

Car insurance is creeping up and is now around €180, double what I was once paying.

 

Taxe d'Habitation and Redevance Audiovisuelle (TV license) have been scrapped, I pay €640 per year property taxes for the house and land (1150m2), the hôtel in Picardie with 6 furnished appartements, garage, car park, laundry, workshop, cellar etc has only just crept over the €1000 in property taxes.

 

The most expensive thing amongst the property charges is rubbish collection because (they claim) of the taxes on landfill but I get pretty unlimited access to the recycling centre with a magnetic card, I can tip whole trailer loads directly into the various containers, Skips and skip hire do not really exist in this country as we can pretty much dispose of everything legally and without charge, nearly every household has a trailer.

 

I have never paid a centime in income tax as my earningss are deemed to be too low thanks to the over generous Meublée de Tourisme fiscale régime that assumes my operating costs are 71% when they are far far lower, no accountants or accounts needed just a turnover declaration.

 

€25000 in government aid during Covid.

 

Free healthcare and a free state operated Mutuelle (top up insurance) although I have been mucked around at renewal this year and have had no Mutuelle for 5 months while I try to get the foncs to do their job. Nominally I have to pay 30% towards medical bills but anything urgent is covered at 100%.

 

I probably dont appreciate these things as much as I should because when I lived in the UK it was pretty much the same, I have seen all these things change for the worst over the years, the ULEZ being the worst and you just know that it is the thin end of the wedge. Give a local authority the power to raise money and they will rip the ar5e out of it.

 

 

Edited 10 October, 2023 by J.R.

[Ootohere]

Allowing people to pay to take higher emission vehicles in is a money raiser. It is a con.

 

Forget having passed a MOT, or too young at under 3 years for a MOT.

Ban all high polluting ones.  

Set up emission testing centres just like they did with Covid and vaccines and with hospitals or like they have plenty Military, Ex Military, police etc for Royal Weddings, funerals etc.

FREE testing.  Just run that 24 hours a day for a number of weeks and then you know how many you need to carry on testing.

Have them in areas around the counties for those that want a test or that will want to go to LEZ,s.

 

Have people do drive through testing and get a window sticker if the vehicle meets whatever they want met.

1 month to comply or banned from entering the Low Emission Zone.  ANPR, car / van seized / uplifted if it is found parked.

 

Job Creation, and there are already traffic or community warders or others about enforcing parking etc.

[Graham Butcher]

@J.R. That is the best way, keep a car for 10 years or longer if its still OK, that way you are getting more of carbon created in its manufacture back, if you follow the drift. WE normal motorists with ICE cars pay through the nose for VED, although my current car is only £35 a year, old one was £180. We get charged for parking almost everywhere other than retail parks, which are camera controlled with a maximum stay of 2 or 3hrs. Some are even watching to see if you park your car and walk off site, then you get PCN in the post as they deem you parked there without shopping there. Car insurance is a rip-off, mine this year went up to £680 and the only way I could get it that low was to have a black box fitted to record my driving record and with a maximum of 8,000 miles a year, otherwise the quotes were coming in at anything between £1,200 and £4,500. Property tax is over £2,000. 

 

TV licence is £160 and income tax is pretty high, now I can understand why so many Brits want to retire in France, very tempting.

[Ootohere]

£159 for a Colour TV licence and that £1 makes all the difference if you do not have £1. 

[Graham Butcher]

Yeah I know, just rounding it up.😁

[Graham Butcher]

Further info on ULEZ just been posted.

 

(196) ULEZ Costs: £150m to Chase ULEZ-Dodgers + WHO is the only one Happy about ULEZ? - YouTube

 

[J.R.]

I said that I hadn't paid for parking, not strictly true, that does not mean it wasn't requested of me in the UK, since getting French plates in 2005 I avoided anywhere with barriers and chose pay and display (not) or meter parking.

 

Same deal for speed cameras and the Dartford river crossing although I wish I could have used it more.

Edited 10 October, 2023 by J.R.

[@Lee]

35 minutes ago, J.R. said:

I said that I hadn't paid for parking, not strictly true, that does not mean it wasn't requested of me in the UK, since getting French plates in 2005 I avoided anywhere with barriers and chose pay and display (not) or meter parking.

 

Same deal for speed cameras and the Dartford river crossing although I wish I could have used it more.

 

I've only paid to park in Germany a handful of times in almost five years. Most parking spaces are on an honour system. You place your 'Ankunftszeit karte' (arrival time card) in the window and you get 1, 2, 3 hours free parking in most places. 

Then there's parking in shopping centres where you take a card from the ticket machine on entry. If you make a qualifying purchase in any shop you ask them to validate your parking and then it's free. 

Fines for overstaying/ not displaying your card are relatively low. I think last time I was robbed of a whopping €5 🤣

Edited 10 October, 2023 by @Lee

[bigjohn]

11 minutes ago, @Lee said:

 

I've only paid to park in Germany a handful of times in almost five years. Most parking spaces are on an honour system. You place your 'Ankunftszeit karte' (arrival time card) in the window and you get 1, 2, 3 hours free parking in most places. 

Then there's parking in shopping centres where you take a card from the ticket machine on entry. If you make a qualifying purchase in any shop you ask them to validate your parking and then it's free. 

Fines for overstaying/ not displaying your card are relatively low. I think last time I was robbed of a whopping €5 🤣

 

Hmm, I found Trier a real pain to park in this summer. Most car parks wanted me to load up an app, very difficult as in Germany the phone roaming speeds seem to be restricted somehow - I suspect to 2G speeds.  I got stressed, gave in and went elsewhere.

 

Roaming was fine in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland etc. I use Giffgaff.

 

[@Lee]

1 hour ago, bigjohn said:

 

Hmm, I found Trier a real pain to park in this summer. Most car parks wanted me to load up an app, very difficult as in Germany the phone roaming speeds seem to be restricted somehow - I suspect to 2G speeds.  I got stressed, gave in and went elsewhere.

 

Roaming was fine in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland etc. I use Giffgaff.

 

Never had to use an app anywhere to park tbh not even in Hamburg.

 

I've never had an issue with my UK phones internet speed either tbh on EE. Pixel 2 XL was bought in the UK in 2016.

 

As you can see, no WiFi on and 4g. 70Mbps (88 combined)  isn't too bad IMHO. More than enough to stream in 4K. Not that I use it much now there's roaming charges. 

 

 

I was curious and that's actually slightly better than I get on my more modern German SIM mobile.

 

Edited 10 October, 2023 by @Lee

[Graham Butcher]

@Lee As you have a Pixel 2 XL purchased in 2016, what version of Android is it running please, I'm curious as in the past I've found that the OS stops being supported after only a few years and the apps also stop being supported so the phone really just becomes that in most terms, a phone and a camera. I've had all makes of phone, HTC, Samsung, etc and all ended up bing just that, so I thought I'd go with a Google phone this time, thinking that as Android is a Google OS, that they would continue to support their own phones for longer, so I purchased a few months ago a Pixel 6A, have I chosen wisely or not?

[@Lee]

2 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

@Lee As you have a Pixel 2 XL purchased in 2016, what version of Android is it running please, I'm curious as in the past I've found that the OS stops being supported after only a few years and the apps also stop being supported so the phone really just becomes that in most terms, a phone and a camera. I've had all makes of phone, HTC, Samsung, etc and all ended up bing just that, so I thought I'd go with a Google phone this time, thinking that as Android is a Google OS, that they would continue to support their own phones for longer, so I purchased a few months ago a Pixel 6A, have I chosen wisely or not?

One day people will realise my username is @Lee so to tag me it's @@Lee  If people think they've tagged me and I'm being rude for not replying it's because they tagged the wrong user. My At-At gif profile pic wasn't an accident. The actual @Lee is gonna one day wake up to a **** ton of notifications. Funnily enough I once met him and he also had a blue Rapid. But his was from the 80s and had a Rover K series engine in it. 🤣

 

Android 11 from 2020. Still one of the most popular versions I believe. I've had no problems with any apps including the Ookla speed test app I reinstalled tonight to get that screenshot. Carista updated the last month when I needed it after not using it for a few years. NHS app still works as does my HMRC account app. Both banking apps fine SM apps fine etc etc. 

Obviously mine is still more than just a phone and a camera. After I leave my laptop in the evening it's my means of surfing, shopping on Amazon etc and even streaming direct to the TV. Nothing that worked when I first bought it doesn't still work now. It's not slow either. I once had forty odd tabs in the Chrome browser in the background. 

Personal info redacted

 

 

 

Edited 11 October, 2023 by @Lee

[Graham Butcher]

@@Lee There you go, I got it right for you, I must admit that I was puzzled that your avatar came up differently. I'm sorry I never realised it before, perhaps others will also get it right now 👍

[Crasher]

The air in Luton is lovely and clear this morning...

[Graham Butcher]

@@Lee Here are the speed readings for my Pixel 6A, these are for the home Wi-Fi, as a mobile, my readings are very similar to yours, but the home speed is brilliant.

 

 

[Graham Butcher]

Today I see that there may even more bad news for those that are affected by the expanded ULEZ charges and have started to use trains to get around London, Sadiq Khan is now looking to withdraw from the London day travel card scheme, so if he doesn't get you with ULEZ, then he'll get you by charging you extra for the tubes, buses and DLR. It is most definitely looking like a pure money grab. The article also reveals that it is looking like its all been orchestrated by Westminster after all as a means of plugging the shortfall in local authorities funding from Westminster.   

 

After ULEZ, Surrey council to take on Mayor Sadiq Khan over London day travelcard decision | ITV News Meridian

[bigjohn]

17 hours ago, @Lee said:

 

 

I've never had an issue with my UK phones internet speed either tbh on EE. Pixel 2 XL was bought in the UK in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

I think it's a recent thing with a UK phone SIM - Giffgaff uses O2. It was fine in every country except Germany.  Other British people who were staying nearby also were having similar problems. I had no such issues on my last trip over there circa 2019.

 

My phone is a Pixel 6a. I've previously had a Pixel 2 & 4a and really like them.

 

 

Edited 11 October, 2023 by bigjohn

[Aspman]

IMHO any scheme to reduce or limit driving in the city centres without a corresponding increase in public transport spending in the same area is simply revenue raising. 
 

They also increase pressure on car sales which benefits some party donors. 

[Graham Butcher]

It is now being reported that claims that particle pollution from car tyres is far more damaging to peoples health than car exhaust fumes, so this mean now that all cars, ICE or EV are now likely to be targeted and be charged for driving in low emission zones.

 

TfL raking in estimated £750,000 PER DAY in ULEZ fines | Regit

[@Lee]

ULEZ seems to be working. I wondered why some had gone a bit quiet. 95% of vehicles seen in the ULEZ areas are ULEZ compliant. Some 80,000 fewer more polluting vehicles either off the road or punted elsewhere.

https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/23894862.sadiq-khan-ulez-ahead-schedule-removing-vehicles/?ref=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67288327

Edited 2 November, 2023 by @Lee

[Graham Butcher]

It seems is the operative word, according to an alleged report from I think it was UCL, the figures don't actually support Sadiq Khan's claims.

[Ootohere]

Glasgow,

A £960 fine or actual penalty charge for a vehicles 5th offence.   But then vehicles do not pay, that might have to be the Registered keeper or driver.

 

I wonder how many are actually paying or it is now on the hands of the Debt Collectors.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck5pnzd17p8o

 

[Graham Butcher]

Oh dear, it seems Mr Sadiq Khan could not, or more likely, would not answer questions about ULEZ put to him from audience members at the recent question time, the last 4 minutes are I think very damming of the entire scheme, it would seem that there is indeed something to hide after all.

 

 

Maybe he can't or won’t answer the questions is because he is hiding this, which also came out at a meeting with peers in the same week?

 

 

Edited 2 December, 2023 by Graham Butcher

[@Lee]

Absolutely unbelieveable! Some absolute arseholes have used and IED (Improvised Explosive Device) i.e. a BOMB, to blow up a ULEZ camera. It's sheer luck that nobody was injured or worse.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67653609 

Vid in link
https://news.sky.com/video/ulez-camera-blast-damages-vehicles-and-houses-in-sidcup-13025194 
 

 

Pics via Xitter