They compared colleagues determined to push through anti-car measures to “a cult” and warned pricing schemes such as London’s Ulez could become “our poll tax”.
There is anger towards London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whose insistence on expanding an ultra-low emission zone has seen hundreds of cameras vandalised in the capital.
But senior figures fear the party is also getting the blame for road pricing schemes in the North and Midlands.
And there is despair over a decision by the Welsh Labour administration of First Minister Mark Drakeford to make 20mph the default speed limit.
One Welsh MP said: “The problem is that when people look at what Labour actually does in power they see Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford.”
The Sunday Express can reveal Transport for London, chaired by Mr Khan, has called for road pricing to be introduced nationwide – and offered to share its experience in the capital to make it a reality.
Ulez sees owners of some older cars, motorcycles and vans pay a £12.50 daily charge to use their vehicles. But vandals are believed to have targeted at least a quarter of all new cameras in outer London, with some 450 of the 1,762 in the newly expanded zone damaged or missing.
Similar schemes are also operating in other Labour-run areas, with Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Sheffield, Newcastle and Gateshead councils all operating clean air zones, that work in a similar way.
Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, a former minister, said: “The danger is the Tories succeed in turning this into our poll tax. “The leadership is clear we want to support people in this country, who are already paying high taxes.
Nobody is above that and Sadiq needs to understand he has to be in line with the party.”
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But another Labour MP and former minister said the problem was wider in the party. They said: “Sadiq has not handled it well, but he has been encouraged by lots of silly people who feel that the anti-driver agenda is a vote winner.
“We’ve seen this in a number of council by-elections where we have been hammered as a result of this.” And one MP said in addition to costing Labour the Uxbridge by-election, the issue had cost support in Birmingham, Cambridge and Manchester.
They warned: “It’s a cult. Uxbridge should have been a wake-up call but they won’t listen.” A Sunday Express poll by WeThink revealed deep scepticism about road-pricing schemes, with 55 percent of voters believing they are designed at least partly to make money from motorists.
The survey found 37 percent believe road pricing is designed to fight climate change and 32 percent believe it is to reduce illness from air pollution.
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TFL has admitted the Ulez expansion is expected to rake in £200million in its first year. A survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found 47 percent of people outside London would oppose a scheme, with only 26 percent supporting the idea.
But TFL has suggested that charges could be introduced nationwide. In a submission to the Commons Transport Committee it said: “National road pricing could accelerate a mode shift to achieve zero-carbon targets.”
Transport for the North, a Labour-dominated body, has suggested every motorist should be given “a small, free ‘car miles budget’, with additional miles on top of that charged for”.
But a spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “Sadiq has been crystal clear – pay per mile is not on the table. “The Mayor has been clear that the decision to expand Ulez London-wide was not an easy one, but necessary to tackle toxic air pollution and the climate crisis.”
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