More ULEZ Cameras Damaged and Stolen as Saboteurs Keep up Pressure

A ULEZ camera lies on the ground after being cut down in Harefield, near Uxbridge, England, on Aug. 28, 2023. Courtesy of AJ Simpson/PA

More Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) cameras in and around London were damaged and stolen last month, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The Met announced another 244 ULEZ cameras had been damaged in September and 41 stolen, bringing the total from the beginning of April to the end of September to 795 in total.

In that six month period 595 cameras have been damaged and 200 stolen.

A group of activists, the so-called Blade Runners, who have made it their mission to disable and remove ULEZ cameras, have previously told The Epoch Times they would “escalate” their sabotage activity unless their demands are met.

In August a man claiming to be the founder of the Blade Runners, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Epoch Times: “This will not end, it’s gone too far now. Even if me or the main core group stop tomorrow, there’s lone rangers now who will go and do their own thing. This is going to escalate.”

He said: “It won’t stop until either the ULEZ thing is expunged or [London Mayor] Sadiq Khan is out of office. This will carry on until May 2024. And if the next mayor continues, so will we.”

Tory Candidate Promises to Scrap ULEZ Expansion

Earlier this week Susan Hall, who will be the Conservative candidate for mayor of London in May’s election, told a fringe event at the Tory party conference in Manchester she would scrap the expansion of ULEZ on her first day in office.

The Met said this week a 52-year-old man had been arrested in Bexley on suspicion of criminal damage on Sept. 22 and had been bailed until Dec. 19, pending further enquiries.

It said, “The arrest is part of an ongoing operation launched in May in relation to the criminal damage of ULEZ cameras.”

The Met said another person had been charged and faces a trial in June 2024, while a third individual had charges against them discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service.

In May, Joseph Nicolls, 42, from Sidcup, was charged with criminal damage.

ULEZ cameras look for drivers of non-compliant vehicles who are then subsequently charged £12.50 a day to drive. Those who fail to pay the fee are then fined.

Mr. Khan has faced fierce opposition to the scheme.

The zone was expanded at the end of August to cover the whole of Greater London, inside the M25, in what Mr. Khan claimed was a measure to improve air quality.

ULEZ Blamed for Labour By-election Defeat

The ULEZ extension was blamed for Labour’s failure to win the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election in July.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with newly elected Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell (right) at the Rumbling Tum cafe in Uxbridge, west London, on July 21, 2023. Carl Court/PA Media

Steve Tuckwell, who replaced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the seat’s new Conservative MP, said of Mr. Khan in his victory speech: “It was his damaging and costly ULEZ policy that lost them this election. [Labour leader Sir] Keir Starmer and his Mayor Sadiq Khan need to sit up and listen to the Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents.”

Mr. Starmer also called on Mr. Khan to reconsider the ULEZ expansion but the mayor went ahead with the expansion on Aug. 29 and Transport for London has installed almost 1,900 ULEZ cameras in the expanded area.

In May the Met launched an operation and promised “to ensure a proportionate approach was in place to relation to ULEZ-related crimes.”

This week the Met said it continued “to treat criminal activity in relation to ULEZ seriously and has deployed considerable resources” to the anti-vandalism operation.

In a statement published on Monday afternoon, the Met said, “Where there are possible lines of enquiry, local investigators will follow up using a range of investigative approaches including CCTV trawls, witness searches and an assessment of forensic opportunities.”