Labour have accused Porsche of raising the stakes over plans to introduce a £25 charge Congestion Charge for “gas guzzlers”.
The comments come after the sports and 4×4 car maker launched an online petition to gather support for its judicial review against the charge.
A spokesman for Ken Livingstone’s campaign said: “The launch of a Porsche website and online petition against a £25 congestion charge on gas guzzlers shows the stakes for London on May 1st, with a major luxury motor manufacturer trying to block steps to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.”
“Ken Livingstone will introduce the gas guzzler charge whilst Boris Johnson opposes it saying he “understood where Porsche was coming from”. The online Porsche campaign shows that there are clear stakes on polling day for all Londoners who care about their environment – back Porsche and vote for Johnson, or help reduce carbon emissions and vote for Ken Livingstone.”
In a statement on their judicial review website Porsche say the proposed charge “sends out the wrong message about London as a place to do business and will make successful people look at other cities to locate. We also believe that the increase is disproportionately large – a huge jump in one go that looks more like a political stunt than considered action.”
According to Transport for London the scheme could save between 100 and 5,000 tonnes of CO2 each year however critics say it will have little effect on the quality of air in the capital.
The company urges supporters to help “by writing to the newspaper you normally read or by writing to London Mayor Ken Livingston [sic], letting him know your opposition to the increased charge. We want to make it clear to the mayor and other politicians that large number of people in London and across the rest of the country are opposed to this unfair charge.”
