Michael Gove said he would be happy to intervene in the situation within the powers given to him as Secretary of State. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA
Michael Gove will seek to overturn Sadiq Khan's decision to block the shipment to Ukraine of cars that would otherwise be scrapped under the Ulez scheme.
Mr Khan, Mayor of London , rejected an offer from Vitali Klitschko, his Kiev counterpart, to donate SUVs and trucks, arguing that it did not guarantee the Ulez recycling scheme would benefit Londoners from an “economic, social and environmental point of view”.
In a letter seen by The Telegraph, Mr Gove, the Communities Secretary, wrote to Mr Khan on Thursday saying he would be happy to intervene in the matter within the powers given to him as Secretary of State.
Letter to Mr. Klitschko in December. On December 12, Mr Khan said the Ulez recycling scheme was designed to “deliver environmental benefits to Londoners”.
In his letter on Thursday, Mr Gove said he was “extremely disappointed” to learn that the Greater London Authority does not propose to support Ukraine by donating non-compliant Ulez vehicles.
He said he believes in the problem. was because Mr Khan decided he had no “legislative basis” to do so under the powers given to him under section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA).
G Mr Gove said: “Mr Gove said: “In principle, I would be happy to use my powers under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 to make recommendations regarding your s30 powers if it allows you to support Ukraine.”< /p>
“I'm sure you'll agree that taking these same vehicles off London's roads – and thus achieving the same environmental benefits – while supporting efforts in Ukraine, is preferable to simply scrapping them.”
He said the government was also prepared to “consider all options within our powers to ensure we can support the people of Ukraine with London's decommissioned vehicles.”
Under the Ulez scheme, motorists can claim a one-off compensation. from paying £2,000 if they scrap a tax-defaulting vehicle. If they decide to keep their non-compliant vehicles (most diesel cars registered before September 2015 and petrol cars registered before January 2006) they will have to pay a daily charge of £12.50 to drive them through the zone .
Almost 700,000 vehicles registered in Greater London do not meet Ulez requirements, according to RAC research.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, numerous voluntary organizations have moved donated SUVs and larger vehicles for use by soldiers on the front line in Ukraine.
Upon arrival in the country, the vehicles are painted in camouflage and equipped with machine guns. or rocket launchers and are used for everything from combat to treating the wounded.
Richard Lofthouse, who works with Car for Ukraine, one of the volunteer groups delivering cars to the country, said: “It is quite possible that There are Londoners who would rather scrap their cars in the knowledge that they will enact one last act of heroism in Ukraine rather than simply disappear into a car slaughterhouse.
“If this is true, then the scrappage scheme would be more successful if Ukraine was added as an option, which would remove more polluting vehicles from London's streets and directly benefit Londoners. At least conceptually, this would address the legal concerns raised by the Mayor.”
A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: “Sadiq is calling on the Government to temporarily change national rules regarding the Certificate of Destruction which is required as evidence of that the vehicle has been permanently disposed of to enable the export of suitable vehicles to Ukraine through a registered charity or national scheme.
“Officials are already in talks and we hope the government will heed our requests to give Londoners the opportunity to get paid to remove polluting vehicles from London streets while helping the people of Ukraine.”
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