Leave it to the British to take a potentially good idea and turn it into yet another tyrannical system against its own population.
For instance, it is indeed a good idea to cut down pollution in urban centers – no one would dispute that. But how?
So Britain created the ULEZ – an ‘Ultra Low Emission Zone’ in London, where ‘an emissions standard based charge’ is applied to ‘non-compliant road vehicles’.
A network of cameras is checking traffic to make drivers pay every time they enter the zone with their ‘non-compliant’ cars.
Over time it became an extremely unpopular solution, especially after leftist London Mayor Sadiq Khan greatly expanded the ULEZ.
A phenomenon emerged in which disgruntled citizens started taking out their frustration on the ‘spying cameras’ – about a thousand cameras have been damaged or stolen over the last year alone.
That should give the authorities pause and make them rethink the strategy – but have they? NO.
It arises now that London Mayor Khan has hired a ‘goon squad of thugs – aggressive men dressed in black, with face tattoos and wearing skeleton balaclavas – to oppress the citizens in order to allegedly protect his hated ULEZ cameras while filming everything with body cameras.
The Transit for London agency (TfL) claims that the guards are held to ‘high standards of professionalism’ and that they were necessary to protect ULEZ cameras from the so-called ‘Blade Runners’.
Self-proclaimed ‘freedom fighters’, the ‘Blade Runners’ have channeled the widespread hatred for the expanded ULEZ, and have been successfully targeting the cameras, gaining something of a folk hero status by a sympathetic population.
In the run-up to London’s mayoral election in May, the Conservative opposition leaders have slammed Khan’s goons as ‘intimidation,’ promising to scrap the ULEZ expansion if elected.
Daily Mail reported:
“Mother-of-five Claire Dyer, 47, from Biggin Hill in Bromley, claimed concerned residents lived in fear of the ULEZ protection gang. […] You have thuggish security – they don’t need to be behaving the way that they are. […] All you can see is their eyes. They are wearing masks and balaclavas – even that might have skeletons on them. […] They seem to be above the law.”
The ‘gang’ presents itself as TfL representatives, but they are, in fact, outside contractors.
“Why are they trying to harass people? We are not aggressive or violent, just every day people. We are not hardened criminals. […] It feels like there has been a direct order to get us accused of something we haven’t done. […] We are not inner city London. We have elderly [people] who live in the area who now can’t leave their homes.”
“Conservative mayoral candidate [for London] Susan Hall said: ‘Sadiq Khan’s masked ULEZ enforcers intimidating and scaring locals is outrageous. Londoners deserve respect, not fear. I will put an end to this intimidation by scrapping the ULEZ expansion on day one if elected in May’.”
A TfL spokesperson said ‘security workers’ can wear face coverings only if they feel threatened by being closely filmed.
They added:
“We have hired a small number of qualified security staff who are suitably licensed. They are held to high standards of professionalism. Unfortunately, our contractors have been subjected to threats and abuse while carrying out their duties so they are advised to record any issues on body-worn cameras to deescalate conflict and if necessary, record evidence for police investigations.
Vandalism is unacceptable and all incidents on our network are reported to the police for investigation. ‘Criminal damage to ULEZ cameras or vehicles puts the perpetrators at risk of prosecution and injury, while simultaneously risking the safety of the public.”
The vandalism against the cameras will not stop the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, TfL insists. All targeted cameras are repaired or replaced as soon as possible.
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The post London’s ‘Ultra Low Emission Zone’ Is Widely Hated, More Than 1,000 Cameras Have Been Vandalized – Mayor Khan Hires ‘Security’ Goons To Oppress Citizens appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
