Sadiq Khan launched his Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across central London in the Spring of 2019 in a bid to help reduce pollution in the capital and improve the health of residents. But caller Malcolm questioned the efficacy of the scheme, suggesting Mr Khan should ban all cars that do not comply with Euro 6 standards on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The London local said: “If you were serious about reducing pollution, you would stop all cars who are not Euro 6-compliant from entering. You wouldn’t allow someone to pay.”

Drivers wanting to travel through London’s ULEZ must pay a daily £12.50 fee and petrol vehicles need to have a Euro 4 minimum emission standard. The standard jumps up to Euro 6 for diesel cars.

Sadiq Khan insisted he is not allowed to ban cars from London roads based on their emissions and suggested his “carrot and stick” policies are yielding the results he set out to achieve when first announcing the creation of the new low-emission zone.

But Malcolm appeared unconvinced and insisted the Mayor of London is “wrong” in his assessment: “I still think you’re wrong. You’re wrong Sadiq.

“You control the red routes in ULEZ zones. You can say that there can be no vehicle unless they are Euro 6-compliant in that zone. You control those roads.”

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The London Mayor however insisted he controls only five percent of London roads directly as leader of the Greater London Authority overseeing Transport for London (TfL).

Mr Khan said: “I’ve got to abide by the law – I can’t stop vehicles coming into London.

“Firstly, I don’t control all of the roads, I control five percent of the roads in London. The other 95 percent I control through local authorities.

“What I can control is TfL roads. We’ve been dealing with the world’s first ultra-low emission zone, if it were so easy other cities would be doing it.”

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As caller Malcolm continued to question Mr Khan’s comments, the Labour politician hit back: “Do you accept that as a consequence of the world’s first ultra-emission zone and bold policies that the number of non-compliant vehicles has gone down hugely one the last few years since I’ve announced my policy?

“Over the next period, we hope they’ll go down to zero. The idea is a combination of carrot and stick and we’ve seen a pivotal change from Londoners.”

ULEZ is expected to extend to the North and South Circular from October 2021, coming into effect over the vast majority of the Capital and affecting even more motorists than today.

Helen Chapman, director of licensing, regulation and charging at TFL, said: “The Ultra Low Emission Zone has been introduced to significantly reduce pollution in the capital.

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“Transport for London has been running an extensive communications campaign since spring 2018 to make drivers aware of it.”

A number of exceptions are available to allow Londoners to dodge the £12.5- fee in addition to paying congestion the Congestion Charge.

One group able to apply for an exemption is residents who qualify for the Congestion Charge discount giving them a 100 percent discount off the total fee which will give them a grace period to change their vehicle.

Keepers of vehicles registered with a ‘disabled’ or ‘disabled passenger vehicles’ tax class will benefit from a sunset period after the ULEZ starts. They’ll be exempt from the ULEZ charge until 26 October 2025 as long as their vehicle doesn’t change tax class.

Controversially, London black cabs, which are some of the most toxic vehicles in the capital, are exempt from the charge.

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