{"id":298161,"date":"2025-12-04T07:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T07:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/298161\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T07:28:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T07:28:08","slug":"sadiq-khan-has-launched-a-war-on-drivers-his-next-move-is-completely-bonkers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/298161\/","title":{"rendered":"Sadiq Khan has launched a war on drivers – his next move is completely bonkers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sadiq Khan<\/a> has launched his latest war on drivers, and motorists think the move is completely crazy. Just years after Mr Khan\u2019s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)<\/a>, the mayor is at it again with another cash grab, with petrol<\/a> and diesel<\/a> drivers at the centre of the storm.<\/p>\n

The London<\/a> Mayor has confirmed that Congestion Charge fees will rise to \u00a318<\/a> from January 2, 2026, meaning petrol and diesel drivers will face price hikes in just weeks. That’s a \u00a33 increase on the current \u00a3165 Congestion fee, equivalent to an additional \u00a321 per week for those who use their cars every day, or around \u00a390 per month.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all; with electric cars, you’ll pay the Congestion Charge fees for the first time,\u00a0incurring<\/a>\u00a0a \u00a313.50 daily bill for EV drivers<\/a>. The Mayor claims that retaining the current rates would result in around 2,200 more vehicles in London’s congestion charging zone on weekdays from next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cutting traffic is certainly one aim, but it’s hard to ignore the financial rewards. AutoExpress claims the move could generate between \u00a380 million and \u00a391 million in extra revenue each year, which is a staggering \u00a3415 to \u00a3455 million over five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s just the latest in a slew of motoring decisions<\/a> that have hit motorists in the capital hardest in recent years. ULEZ rises were the biggest blow, but higher parking fines and pedestrianisation plans have left drivers feeling like an afterthought.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A new poll from AutoExpress<\/a> shows that road users have had quite enough, with many looking set to give up their licences altogether. 81% of drivers claimed that the congestion increased to \u00a318 a day is unfair, with 85% believing motorists are now being unfairly targeted by local authority transport policies.<\/p>\n

47% of those polled said rising tolls and charges have already made them avoid certain areas or routes, with 14% now admitting they drive less than they used to.<\/p>\n

The confusing part of the message appears to be the investment in road infrastructure projects, while simultaneously criticising those who will actually use them. Just last year, Transport for London (TfL) played a vital role in paving the way for the new Silvertown Tunnel, a new route connecting North and South, which opened on time in April 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If motorists really are saying \u2018enough is enough\u2019 and considering ditching their cars once and for all, could Khan\u2019s new tunnel become a white elephant long before it’s time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sadiq Khan has launched his latest war on drivers, and motorists think the move is completely crazy. Just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,120166,120169,120170,682,120173,59,388,120167,120171,681,120172,14751,109304,56,120168,120165,54,55],"class_list":["post-298161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-congestion-charge","tag-congestion-charge-changes","tag-congestion-charge-increase","tag-diesel","tag-diesel-cars","tag-gb","tag-london","tag-london-congestion-charge","tag-london-driving-costs","tag-petrol","tag-petrol-cars","tag-sadiq-khan","tag-sadiq-khan-congestion-charge","tag-uk","tag-uk-congestion-charge","tag-ulez","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}