Tax the poor?

It’s hard to argue that something needs to be done about air pollution. I suppose the tricky bit is deciding what that something should be. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has introduced his Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), taxing older, more polluting vehicles to the hilt. That makes sense, right?

When I bought my car, I was told by the government I should invest in a diesel vehicle. It was safer, cleaner, less polluting. A no brainer, then. Buy a car, help the environment. Now, we learn that this advice was as wrong as any piece of advice could possibly be. Diesel fumes are making us ill, in some instances killing us. Tax diesel fuelled cars, make the polluters pay. Think about it for a moment.

Who buys older, more polluting cars? By and large, poorer people on lower incomes. The entire social care system is held together by those who drive their old bangers from place to place to place every day to ensure vulnerable people retain their dignity, stay safe and clean, eat properly and actually see another human being in their lives. What happens when they have to choose between paying a small fortune in extra charges and getting another job?

A professor from Manchester university and Sadiq Khan gave compelling evidence of the need to deal with air pollution. People had received notice of this additional charge. There were alternatives. Workers could buy an electric car, for example, or catch the bus. Yes, but what about people, like social care workers, who simply could not see the volume of clients they currently visit by catching the bus or cycling. It would be hard enough in London where public transport is decent. In other areas, in cities and towns, the idea would be preposterous.

Social care workers earn, by and large, bargain bucket wages, on and around the minimum wage. It is all very well for well paid academics and politicians to call on people to buy ‘greener’ vehicles. But how do you do that on a gross wage of a few pennies over £8 an hour? You don’t. You risk bringing about the collapse of social care and every other form of work carried out on behalf of the old, the sick and the vulnerable.

I doubt that employers will give workers big pay rises to buy new cars, I doubt that any scrappage scheme would go anywhere near enabling people to buy a greener car. Quite frankly, people of power and influence have either not thought these things through or they don’t give a toss.

In reality, the new ULEZ is a tax on poorer drivers. The better off won’t be buzzing around in old bangers. It won’t affect them at all. Every decision has consequences and the consequence of introducing the ULEZ in London could improve air quality will make the lives of millions of people utterly miserable and in some instances barely worth living.