Does anyone know if there have been any Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests filed – demanding that the incumbent mayor of London provide the hard evidence that supports his ULEZ experiment – and, specifically, what he will actually use huge anticipated revenues for. The latter goes to the heart of this. Follow the money. How much health and/or transport infrastructure is he actually planning spending the money on. If his plan is to force drivers off the road, how many actual new buses/tubes/trains/hospitals and all the associated staffing and support is he actually funding. Call me a cynic but I doubt there’s a shred of evidence that’s how he really plans on spending this cash grab. I am mindful of the health argument but this unilateral taxation and bullying of legitimate car users is not the answer – and it has a wholly disproportionate impact on countless owners of perfectly decent cars who cannot simply sell them for scrap.
They have to get to work. They can’t afford to. And why should they? And, for that matter, why would we “overnight” scrap hundreds of thousands of vehicles – and fine those who can’t or won’t. How on earth does this foster a recovery, a stronger economy – or any concept of sustainability. Making scrap piles even bigger overnight is as dumb as it sounds. As dumb as allowing these “green bikes” to be dumped literally anywhere – dangerously and apparently unregulated.
– by David Kinnear
Barrister | GC | Mediator | Publisher
London & New York
About David
David is a Private Client Barrister, Fractional / Interim General Counsel (GC) and Accredited Civil & Commercial Mediator. He is a Non-Exec. (NED) / Advisory Board member and the Publisher of High Performance Counsel (“HPC”). He is a co-founder and director of Small Claims Portal, a legal technology and services company delivering a turnkey solution for millions of businesses and consumers dealing with small claims litigation. Additionally, he is a co-founder of a legal technology company focused on no-code legal process automation, which was successfully acquired by a leading legal services provider. David brings 20+ years of business and legal experience to the table for his clients. He provides confidential, cost-effective and timely legal services – advising clients in a variety of civil and commercial matters and representing clients before Courts, Government Regulatory Bodies and in other hearing formats, such as negotiation, arbitration, mediation and adjudication. Instructions may be accepted directly or via chambers for UK and international matters.

About High Performance Counsel (HPC)
Founded by international lawyer and successful legal technology founder, David Kinnear, High Performance Counsel (HPC) is the leading business media resource covering the modern legal industry and the people, technology and economic forces driving its future. Described as the “voice of the modern legal industry” HPC provides world-class media coverage via one-to-one feature interviews with leading legal professionals and the publication of key insights via articles, white papers and industry commentary.