Older people should stop moaning about Ulez – it’s what Gen Z want (and deserve)

We can’t ignore that policies prioritising the planet are increasingly popular. My generation has been calling for them for years, writes youth climate campaigner Scarlett Westbrook

Drivers will be subjected to London’s ultra low emission zone (Ulez) rules if they move off official diversion routes during this weekend’s M25 closure (Lucy North/PA) (PA Archive)

From Sadiq Khan being re-elected with an increased majority, to Richard Parker becoming the first Labour Mayor of the West Midlands, the electorate sent a clear message on 2 May: we want politicians to put clean air over cars.

Prior to the results on Saturday, many commentators and political figures had tried to frame this election as an Ulez referendum, with candidates such as the Conservative candidate Susan Hall in London and Independent Akhmed Yaqoob in the West Midlands pledging to scrap it.

But what the results really show for me and others like me (Gen Z) is that the appetite for climate policies has never been greater. And older people particularly should stop moaning about Ulez – it’s what the younger generations want and deserve. We should all be welcoming it.

We can’t ignore that policies prioritising the planet are increasingly popular. My generation has been calling for them for years.

I started campaigning as a youth activist nationally – and at home in Birmingham – for a clean air zone six years ago. And I have consistently been met with overwhelming support.

Contrary to what you may hear from right-leaning politicians and certain sections of the media, the implementation of schemes like Ulez in cities across the country was propelled by the working-class – not rich people with a penchant for gardening. That’s why there are exemptions for groups who may otherwise struggle to afford the charge.

Why do I think it’s a good idea? Well, because of figures that show that 2,300 people in the West Midlands and 9,400 in London die prematurely every year due to long term exposure to air pollution, with the majority of those being from working-class and marginalised backgrounds.

Clean air zones drastically improve lung health and pollution levels. They’re not just a policy, but a lifeline for many – and with only 4 per cent of cars in London not meeting Ulez regulations, they don’t even pose a problem to the majority.

Young people aren’t stupid, even though that is what anti-Ulez figures such as Reform UK and Susan Hall appear to think. We don’t frame our lives solely in terms of what will seemingly give us the least inconvenience in a short four year period at the expense of the rest of our lives.

Sensationalist policies have no place in a political climate where more than 1.1 million children in the UK are suffering with asthma – we can see right through the spin.

If the right think that their anti-climate messaging will win them votes, they should expect to keep losing support at an even greater scale than we have just seen. When given the choice, young people like me will always choose policies that set us up for the longevity of the planet and our health, because we know what is at stake.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha uniquely understand the gravity of the climate crisis and its impacts on our lives. We have a clear desire for climate justice.

But we can’t stop here: we must continue to push for more green policies and net zero commitments, from whoever is driving them. What does this look like? For me, it’s calling for the expansion of clean air zones, to bringing public transport into public ownership, to rapidly accelerating our decarbonisation efforts.

We must not fall into the trap of short-term thinking. Politicians of all denominations should give the electorate – particularly the younger generations – what we really want: a brighter, greener, fairer and cleaner future.

Scarlett Westbrook is a British climate justice activist and journalist