A Liberal Democrat politician has come under fire for reportedly implying that a group of campaigners against the green agenda ULEZ car tax should be gassed with poisonous carbon monoxide.
According to a report from The Telegraph, Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Tarling, who represents Christchurch in Dorset, England, responded to a picture on Twitter of a church hall where an anti-Ultra Low Emissions Zone meeting was set to take place in Edinburg by saying that he would “happily fill the room with carbon monoxide”.
It comes amid a broader debate in Britain surrounding the imposition of green agenda taxes on cars in cities and towns throughout the country, with the programme being spearheaded by far-left London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Despite the unpopularity of the scheme, Khan is set to expand ULEZ to the entirety of London, and thereby charge thousands of working-class people £12.50 per day to drive to work in the capital.
The left-wing Liberal Democrat party decided not to suspend the councillor for his reprehensible comments, saying that he will instead attend an “awareness training” class.
A Lib Dem spokesman said: “Michael has apologised for his comments and has agreed to take on the appropriate awareness training.”
While the party refused to suspend Tarling, Twitter has suspended his account for violating its rules, which prohibit calls to violence.
Tarling, who is described in his official biography as having “a keen interest in the environment and sciences” was reportedly a central figure in passing plans to cut the speed limit to just 20 miles per hour throughout Christchurch.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told The Sunday Telegraph that he has ordered the Department for Transport to launch a review of Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) anti-car schemes that set up barriers, bollards and other impediments to prevent certain roads from being used by motorists.
Sunak is reportedly considering a back-track on the Conservative Party’s longstanding support for Net-Zero green policies amid dismal polling for the Tories. The party did, however, successfully defend former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s parliamentary seat in Uxbridge earlier this month amid widespread anger over the ULEZ plan, leading many to question if taking the small-c conservative position on the issue may actually be popular with the public.
In an attempt to convince the public that he is on the side of drivers, he said: “The vast majority of people in the country use their cars to get around and are dependent on their cars. When I’m lucky enough to get home to North Yorkshire it’s more representative of how most of the country is living, where cars are important.
“I just want to make sure people know that I’m on their side in supporting them to use their cars to do all the things that matter to them.”
Yet, the prime minister has so far refused to back off the Conservative party’s plan to ban new petrol cars by the year 2030, despite over 40 Tory MPs writing to demand that Sunak scrap the plan over fears that it will do “grave harm to the economy”.
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