How old is your car? Usually an impolite question in an environment fed to attach graded shame to aging cars. But, in Britain, this question has progressed from a socially impolite one to a deeply political question. That question came up in the by-election in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the constituency of former prime minister Boris Johnson in the outer suburbs of London.
Out of the three bypolls held, the Conservative Party were wiped out by miles in two. They nosedived from a massive majority in their heartland into losses by substantial margins. But they just about held onto Uxbridge and South Ruislip, winning by a wafer-thin margin of 495 votes.
This is where cars drove the results. Both the Conservative candidate and Labour leadership agreed on that. Labour leadership, excluding London mayor Sadiq Khan – whose unpopular policy to fine older and more emission-heavy cars, everyone agrees, drove voters against the Labour candidate and handed Steve Tuckwell and the Conservative Party a win neither was expecting.
It was about cars hitting the ripe old age of 18 or so. It is generally thought that cars made in 2005 or later would be compliant with the new emissions standards. For a start, we would be saying a substantial number of people in the Uxbridge constituency cannot afford to drive cars less than 18 years old. And this is not some particularly poor area, quite the opposite; it is far more prosperous than many in Britain.
So we would be saying then that millions across Britain cannot afford a car less than 18 years of age. That is quite a change from the requirements for cars that middle-class India faces. Cars of that age are simply not allowed to be driven on Delhi roads.
In London, under the emissions scheme, you could still own and drive them even if it is at a charge of 12 pounds per day. The age of an owned car is not necessarily a socially scientific standard of prosperity, but as a rough and ready guide, it still does say something.
A possible loophole in such rough indexing is that many Uxbridge voters do own and drive newer cars but oppose the new emissions standards, which correspond to Euro 4 for petrol cars, on principle or in solidarity with less prosperous neighbours.
The London mayor’s office said the expansion of the measure from August 29 would reduce pollution by about 5 percent; critics said it will make no more than a 1 percent difference. The emissions charge is already in place within the equivalent of London’s Ring Road. The new move will take it further down to the suburbs, where Londoners are increasingly moving, such as Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
But enough of them believe that the expanded move would clean up bank accounts more than they could the air. Just why they believe this will demand a census of the age of cars in the constituency.
Labour is not keen on that because they lost, and the Conservatives don’t care because they won somehow.
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