Sadiq Khan plotted pay-per-mile car tax in London with drivers charged £2 a mile

Sadiq Khan planned to introduce a pay-per-mile car tax scheme to charge up to £2 to drive in London. The Labour Party Mayor had planned to charge motorists up to £2 per mile to drive in London as part of an ambitious net zero initiative.

The flagship pay-per-mile road charging scheme was set to launch in September 2026. The plans emerged after Sadiq Khan had reportedly already spent £150million of taxpayers' money on technology for pay-per-mile road pricing, according to The Telegraph.

Mr Khan ultimately abandoned the pay-per-mile charging plans following the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election in July 2023. Sir John Armitt, chairman of the UK's National Infrastructure Commission, has previously voiced support for a pay-per-mile road pricing scheme, saying these measures were "inevitable".

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A spokesperson for the Mayor of London stated: "Pay-per-mile charging has been ruled out by the Mayor and no such scheme is on the table." And an HM Treasury spokesperson previously told GB News: "We have no plans to introduce road pricing.

"We are committed to supporting our automotive sector as we transition to electric vehicles in order to meet our legally binding climate targets." Mr Khan has since made clear he has “ruled out” the pay-per-mile policy. Internal modelling by Transport for London (TfL) shows the proposals would have added tens of pounds to road journeys in the capital.

Under the Labour mayor’s plans, the cost of driving from Upminster to Oxford Circus and back again would have almost trebled, rising from £15 to around £40. A TfL spokesman said: “When we consulted on expanding the Ulez London-wide in 2022, we also asked people for their views to help shape the future of road user charging in the capital.

"We did exploratory work around a number of different policy options including distance-based charging, but such a scheme has not been developed as a proposal in London, and the Mayor has ruled it out.”