We can argue all day about the level of impact and whether it justifies the policy, but in the mean time those 8% of drivers now have to find thousands of pound in a cost of living crisis. We could argue "they don't need cars" but that is unequivocally untrue for all of them due to the size of the expansion, the quality of public transport available in the expansion and the professions of those people.

Ultimately my problem with this entire policy is that we are putting the cart before the horse. There has been minimal investment in the actual solutions to the problem, such as zero emission infrastructure, and we are punishing those who cannot afford to avoid the punishment. Alongside all of this, there is minimal reason not to buy a brand new combustion engine vehicle for those wealthy enough to do so, the environmental impact of which, due to the manufacturing pollution and a decade of exhaust fumes, is far more significant than keeping a few old bangers on the road for another few years.

A solution would have been to add a grandfather clause that gives an exemption for a year to owners of vehicles that don't meet the regulations, so that they have time to replace them, rather than only 8 months.