LABOUR councillors in Glasgow have called for the city’s controversial Low Emission Zone to be delayed by a year.
One politician even warned it would penalise working-class drivers.
The SNP administration reacted angrily, claiming that Labour had now called for the LEZ to be introduced a year earlier, on the current timetable and a year later.
READ MORE: Glasgow air quality meets targets. Should LEZ be scrapped?
From Thursday, in a bid to reduce emissions in the city centre, any driver taking a car that fails to meet the minimum emission standards into the zone faces a £60 fine.
According to the council’s website, that will likely include any diesel engine vehicles registered before September 2015, and any petrol vehicles registered before 2006.
There has been huge opposition to the plan.
On Saturday, anti-LEZ protesters gathered at the Botanic Gardens in the city’s West End and marched towards the steps at Buchanan Galleries.
The policy also faces a legal challenge from a garage inside the zone which says it could force them out of business as they won’t be able to accept non-compliant vehicles into their repair shop.
And last week, we told of how the St John’s Ambulance charity and a homeless charity face substantial fines unless they spend money upgrading their vehicles.
READ MORE: St Andrew’s First Aid plea for help over Glasgow's LEZ
The policy was introduced in 2018, with the second phase starting on May 31 last year, with a grace period of one year, which ends on June 1.
At a meeting of the City Administration Committee last year, Labour did say the regulations around the zone should be amended so that "enforcement of non-resident entry restrictions" would not be introduced until June 1 2024.
However, the scheme and current effective start date were approved by votes from 13 councillors on the committee, including Labour.
In a statement, George Redmond, the leader of the Labour group on the council, said: “We're calling on Susan Aiken to put the City of Glasgow first for once, work with the city businesses and community groups and introduce a fairer LEZ system next year.
“It is not too late for the council to delay the scheme for 12 months to give businesses and charities more time to prepare.”
This Thursday the Low Emission Zone will be implemented.
— Glasgow Labour Group (@Labour_GCC) May 29, 2023
We are calling for a delay in the implementation of the LEZ so that charities, businesses and workers can have more time to prepare as the cost-of-living crisis continues. pic.twitter.com/E3EtSzhQp3
He was backed by Labour MSP Pamela Duncan Glancy, who tweeted that the council was “damaging working class people with the LEZ policy.”
“People lucky enough to have newer cars will be fine,” she added. “But in the absence of a decent public transport system, how on earth are working-class people to get around?”
“What a crowd of hypocrites Glasgow Labour are,” the Glasgow SNP group tweeted. “Not only did they previously attempt to introduce the LEZ a year before its implementation, in October they shifted position again to vote for June 1st.”
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Thomas Kerr, the leader of the Conservatives on the council, said the u-turn was "welcome, but comes far too little too late."
He added: “The Glasgow Conservatives have been raising concerns in relation to this ill-thought out scheme for years, but Labour have been found wanting.
“Now with just days until its enforcement, Labour have flip-flopped once again. Labour could have joined us when it really mattered and backed plans for a sensible delay.
“Instead they have waited until the last minute to show concern for charities and 1,000 taxi drivers at risk of losing their jobs."
LEZs are also being introduced in Dundee from May next year, and in Aberdeen and Edinburgh from June 2024.
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