Julia Hartley-Brewer has rounded on Sadiq Khan as anger over his ULEZ rollout mounts, with the TV pundit branding him a “coward”.

The TalkTV host led outcry against the Mayor of London today from her usual slot on the channel as the zone extends into the capital’s outer boroughs.

Widespread opposition has built against Mr Khan in recent months, with several boroughs having launched last-ditch legal challenges to scupper the expansion.

With these challenges dismissed, opposing parties have taken to protests, and even vandalism, in desperate bids to have the policy – which demands people with non-compliant cars pay a £12.50 surcharge to enter the zone – rolled back.

Ms Hartley-Brewer called for answers from the mayor, whose own home in Tooting became part of the ULEZ today, on behalf of “millions” of people affected by the “absolutely outrageous” policy.

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Speaking on TalkTV’s Breakfast Show this morning, the host slammed ULEZ, which she dubbed a charge “just to get off your own driveway”.

She claimed that 700,000 cars that don’t meet the stringent new green standards required by the ULEZ, leaving millions paying the surcharge.

And she criticised the Mayor’s defence of his policy, with Mr Khan having said he wanted to protect Londoners’ health and save lives.

The presenter said: “If it was about saving lives and pollution, why charge a fine? Why not just say those cars are banned?”

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“But it’s alright for them to come in if they pay money – how does that save lives?”

She added: “You know that it’s not about saving lives or improving people’s lives, it’s about making money.”

Ms Hartley-Brewer also accused Mr Khan of being a “liar” when he claimed that up to 4,000 Londoners per year die prematurely due to air pollution.

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Mr Khan’s claims came from a study conducted by the Environmental Research Group, part of Imperial College London’s School of Public Health.

In 2019, the group found that pollution, specifically human-made PM2.5 and NO2 particles, contributed to “the equivalent of between 3,600 to 4,100 deaths”.

The deaths were calculated from “all causes”, including respiratory, lung cancer and cardiovascular deaths.

Ms Hartley-Brewer cited Office For National Statistics (ONS) figures as she claimed only one person died of air pollution between 2001 and 2021, but this was a death with “exposure to air pollution” recorded on the death certificate, rather than diseases to which pollution contributed.

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