Vandals attack ULEZ cameras as legitimate ‘protestors’

Following the expansion of the London ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone), some of the cameras have been vandalised from being doused in red paint, covered with bags to being actually cut down.

Self-styled “blade runners” claim to have destroyed over 600 ULEZ cameras. 3,000 cameras are required to enforce the expansion, and right-wing media such as The Mail, Telegraph and The Sun have come out in support of this criminal activity led by “Captain Gusto” and his band as they tear down the cameras which, in the end, will have to be paid for by London rate-payers.

The Telegraph quotes one of these vandals as doing “unpaid voluntary work.”

The editor of the Sunday Telegraph wrote: “The mayor’s nasty, vindictive Ulez cash grab has triggered a wave of French-style civil disobedience, radicalised an outer suburbia that the snooty inner London elite had long forgotten even existed.”

However, the country ranks the climate high among its top concerns, Ipsos finding it actually jumped 13 points in August, putting it at third place, with immigration fifth.

A senior tory MP, Iain Duncan Smith says: “a lot of people in my constituency [who] have been cementing up cameras and putting plastic bags over them. I am happy for them to do it because they are facing an imposition that no one wants and they have been lied to about it … People have had enough.”

Vandalised ULEZ control box

The new Uxbridge MP, Steve Tuckwell is an administrator for Facebook groups that have been protesting the expansion of the clean air zone. The pages, which have been set up for several London boroughs, include comments calling for “more people” to get involved in damaging the cameras needed to police the zone, as well as tips on how to get away with cutting wires and updates on the criminal damage.

Conspiracy posts have also linked Mr Khan to al-Qaeda terrorists and his policy to clean up the capital’s toxic air to Muslims.

The Standard newspaper contacted London Conservative Party headquarters, Mr Tuckwell was removed as an admin for the ‘Hillingdon says no to Ulez expansion’ group and some of the posts taken down. His office has declined to comment.

The Standard reported in May that Paul Osborn, the leader of Harrow council, was under fire for helping run the Harrow says no to Ulez expansion Facebook group where members celebrated the destruction of cameras.

Councillors who are moderators in the group later said posts encouraging criminal damage “cannot and will not be allowed” and they were taken down.

The high court last month dismissed a legal challenge by five Conservative-led councils against the expansion with a judge finding that the legal basis to expand the Ulez was in line with previous decisions on road charges within the capital.