Conspiratorial narratives &rampant misinformation were used to influence the result of a recent local election in the #UnitedKingdom

There was a dramatic increase in false claims and conspiracy theories around ULEZ, a controversial environmental policy.

https://www.euronews.com/2023/08/04/conspiracy-theories-and-disinformation-mar-uk-local-election

#conspiracy #UK #ToryFascistDictatorship #London #elections #ConspiracyTheories #conservatives #misinformation #propaganda #Uxbridge #ULEZ #InformationWarfare
#GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency

#RishiSunak’s wrong again

The #Uxbridge by-election response and new licences for drilling in the North Sea reveal the government’s lack of commitment to #NetZero

Richard Hall @CentralBylines @BylineTimes @SydesJokes

#ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis
https://centralbylines.co.uk/the-governments-attitude-to-climate-change-rishis-wrong-again/

A good and politically astute move. Perhaps even belated given what happened in #Uxbridge.

#ukpolitics #ULEZ #MayorOfLondon #sadiqkhan

Sadiq Khan expands London Ulez grant and scrappage scheme

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/03/sadiq-khan-expands-london-ulez-grant-and-scrappage-scheme?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

> Capital’s mayor moves to reduce political fallout over scheme’s extension after Tory byelection win in Uxbridge

A good and politically astute move. Perhaps even belated given what happened in #Uxbridge.

#ukpolitics #ULEZ #MayorOfLondon #sadiqkhan

Sadiq Khan expands London Ulez grant and scrappage scheme

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/03/sadiq-khan-expands-london-ulez-grant-and-scrappage-scheme?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

> Capital’s mayor moves to reduce political fallout over scheme’s extension after Tory byelection win in Uxbridge

Aditya Chakraborty on how the Tories won Uxbridge partly by allowing their local party to select the best candidate.
Labour meanwhile continued to ignore its local members. How much input did local members have in their own election? “As far as I’m aware, none,” she says. “We were just fodder.”
#LabourParty #Uxbridge
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/03/uxbridge-brexit-tories-anti-green-labour-local

The #Conservatives Skirted Close to the Limits of Electoral Law to Keep #Uxbridge and South Ruislip Tory https://bylinetimes.com/2023/07/26/the-conservatives-skirted-close-to-the-limits-of-electoral-law-to-keep-uxbridge-and-south-ruislip-tory/

'Voters give Britain’s ruling Conservatives a historic mauling'

https://www.economist.com/britain/2023/07/21/voters-give-britains-ruling-conservatives-a-historic-mauling

'The Tory right immediately seized on the result as evidence that climate policies which will increasingly weigh on the individual voter—such as the planned phasing-out of petrol cars and gas boilers—are electorally toxic. Uxbridge-like campaigns may become a fixture.'

#ClimateChange #Environment #GlobalWarming #Conservatives #Labour #UK #Politics #Uxbridge #pollution #motorists #cars #election

#ClimateDiary , #UKPoliitics

The #Uxbridge #Byelection has shown the Tories how well Climate Culiture War tactics can work: spreading #Misinformation about #ULEZ, branding #Labour “the political wing of Just Stop Oil”.

I expect the Tories will go for this full-on in the next elections, & the earlier we recognise & mobilise against this the better. Even if they lose these narratives are incredibly harmful #GTTO #ULEZ

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/22/as-labour-loses-uxbridge-over-ulez-what-now-for-the-partys-green-policies?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Lots of chat about the ULEZ scheme in London/ #Uxbridge and #politics glosses over the actual policy:

“Drivers must pay £12.50 per day if they drive a vehicle which doesn't meet modern emission standards: generally, diesel vehicles that are > 7 years old, or petrol vehicles that are > 17 years old (with a)… max. £180 fine.” [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66264893]

That feels like a pretty *low* bar to me (indeed, the name ‘ULEZ’ [Ultra Low Emission Zone] feels utterly misleading).

Don't accept at face value the widely voiced story about #Uxbridge. It wasn't #ULEZ that cost the #LabourParty the seat.
This is a sound analysis:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/uxbridge-south-ruislip-ulez-expansion-sadiq-khan-conservative-labour/

@ollybenson @ProfLouiseL
Labour failed to point this out during the campaign
https://youtu.be/-Kxw7yYO6UM
If they keep dropping the ball like this they will lose the next election

#Labour #ULEZ #Uxbridge #ukpol

'as Russell Warfield, a campaigner with the environmental group Possible says – is that there is a “hardened rump” of Conservative, anti-ULEZ, pro-car voters in the outer-London boroughs. And we already knew that: polling shows that, while a majority of Londoners back ULEZ expansion, most Tories oppose it.'

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/uxbridge-south-ruislip-ulez-expansion-sadiq-khan-conservative-labour/

#ULEZ #Conservatives #London #Uxbridge

'According to TfL’s own research, just 10% of cars being driven in outer London are not currently ULEZ-compliant. It’s possible this message didn’t filter through to voters, a much larger 45% of whom voted for the Tories’ anti-ULEZ candidate.'

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/uxbridge-south-ruislip-ulez-expansion-sadiq-khan-conservative-labour/

#ULEZ #Conservatives #London #Uxbridge

It’s a bit rich of the #Tories jumping on the bandwagon to abandon #ULEZ and for others to blame #London #Mayor #SadiqKhan for #Labour not quite winning the #Uxbridge #ByElection. It was #BorisJohnson's #government and #GrantShapps in particular who pushed the measure through (and one of the very few things I could agree with them on).

#UK #Politics

Starmer: Let's poison people, make the earth a hellish oven and it's OK as long as we win the next election.

I hope Khan's response will be 'Fuck off you wanker'.

#Uxbridge #Election

@thechildofroth Totally agree, as the band Sleaford Mods sing, it's #UKgrim! And I put the blame of this #Uxbridge #byelection defeat squarely on #KeirStarmer's insipid treacherous tactics rather than #London's green initiatives. Which is very much why I am VERY concerned about #Labour's chances in the general election.

@CountBinface is this from the UK #byelection? Is that #Uxbridge? Because fuck that place needed you to come first!

Chairperson of #Uxbridge Labour Party resigns from party intimating that #Starmer and co lack principles https://dorseteye.com/chairperson-of-uxbridge-labour-party-resigns-from-party-intimating-that-starmer-and-co-lack-principles/

#Uxbridge
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45 uses from 37 accounts #toptag

I am totally not surprised by Uxbridge/South Ruislip voting for the Cons. It confirms why I left there years ago.

#byelection #Uxbridge