London boroughs could be given Brexit-style in-out votes over Ulez

London boroughs could be given Brexit-style in-out votes over Ulez: Tory London mayoral hopeful vows to let voters decide whether to keep emissions tax scheme if he replaces Sadiq Khan in City Hall

Samuel Kasumu wants to be the Tory candidate at the next mayoral election
Ex Boris adviser said he would allow outer boroughs to hold votes on scheme

Voters could be given the chance to scrap an extension of Sadiq Khan’s green Ulez vehicle tax if the Tories take power in London.

Samuel Kasumu, a former adviser to Boris Johnson who wants to be the Tory candidate at the next mayoral election, has said he would allow outer boroughs to hold referenda on staying in the scheme.

Mr Khan plans to extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone to all 32 boroughs of London in August, meaning owners of older and more polluting vehicles will have to pay a £12.50 daily charge to travel around the capital.

But the plans have sparked a furious fightback from political opponents and campaigners who say it will unfairly hit small businesses.

Mr Kazumu, 35, said the issue would be a ‘key battleground in the next mayoral election in 2024 – which could take place on the same day as a general election.

He told the Telegraph: ‘You’ve got to do things in a responsible manner, and you have to be able to take people with you. You can’t just impose your will on folks who don’t want it…

‘I will promise within the first 12 months to have a local referendum for every outer London borough so they can be empowered with the choice about how they respond to what Sadiq has done.’

Samuel Kasumu, a former adviser to Boris Johnson who wants to be the Tory candidate at the next mayoral election, has said he would allow outer boroughs to hold referenda on staying in the scheme.

A YouGov poll last week put the Tories on just 18 per cent, 40 points behind Labour. It could see the party lose 12 of its current 19 Westminster seats in London if replicated at the next election.

However, Mr Kasumu faces an uphill task to get elected, with new polling showing Tory support in freefall in the Capital.

A YouGov poll last week put the Tories on just 18 per cent, 40 points behind Labour, whose lead is the largest since the company started polling the city in 2010.

It could see the party lose 12 of its current 19 Westminster seats in London if replicated at the next election.

Mr Kasumu was a special adviser to the Prime Minister on civil society until April 2021. The stepped down when a Government-backed review said Britain is no longer a country where the ‘system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities’.

He later said some Conservatives believe the path to victory at the next election includes exploiting division and warned a ‘culture war’ will lead to murder on Britain’s streets.

He is currently a councillor on Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in Hertfordshire. He is originally from Barnet and studied business and management accounting at Brunel University – where he was student president. He graduated with a 2:1 and later received a postgraduate degree in Ethnicity, Migration, & Policy from Birkbeck, University of London.

During the 2011 London riots he acted as a community representative calling for peace, particularly in the Tottenham area in the north of the capital. That same year the political adviser also featured in a campaign called Operation Black Vote, where he was presented as a leading entrepreneur and future political figure.

Last month Mr Khan claimed Nazis have infiltrated protests against the expansion of Ulez.

The Mayor of London said that ‘anti-vaxxers, Covid deniers, conspiracy theorists and Nazis’ had joined ‘decent Tories’ in opposing the extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone across the capital.

Mr Khan had sparked fury after branding some Ulez opponents ‘far-Right’ at a public meeting earlier this month.

Asked about his earlier comments, he told The Daily Telegraph: ‘I’m quite clear, outside Ealing Town Hall there were people holding up swastika banners. My worries are they are latching on to decent Tories, to decent people, who oppose the Ulez expansion.

‘You need to understand that their opposition has been latched on to by anti-vaxxers, by Covid deniers, conspiracy theorists and Nazis.’

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