"The toxic state of our air leaves us with no choice but to rid our city of the most polluting diesel vehicles. It is shocking that nearly half of new car sales in the UK are still diesel vehicles and the national system of vehicle excise duty still incentivises motorists to buy these polluting cars," Khan said as quoted by The Guardian, adding that he urged the government to review the policy "immediately."
According to Khan’s plan, the government should introduce a scrappage scheme of estimated 500 million pounds, which includes 4,300 pounds payments to van drivers and 2,000 pounds credit to low-income households for using alternative transport, joining a car pool or buying a cleaner car model.
In 2001, then UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown introduced a new, higher vehicle excise duty for cars emitting higher levels of carbon dioxide. The move led the drivers to shift toward diesel cars, that emit less carbon dioxide that petrol engines, with the number of diesel cars in the United Kingdom increasing from 14 percent to 36 percent of the country's car fleet. However, scientists and lawmakers have become increasingly concerned over the levels of nitrogen oxides emissions caused by diesel vehicles and leading to respiratory diseases.
