Campaign against Climate Change

Opinion polls over the new £25 London Congestion Charge for gas-guzzlers have been giving seemingly contradictory results, probably in part due to loading of questions though I can't find either research report online.

1. http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/article.php?article_id=1433

Poll: 61pc Back £25 C-Charge
First Published: Monday 17 March 2008

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has claimed public backing for his controversial £25 congestion charge for vehicles with the highest Co2 emissions.

Speaking as the results of a new IPSOS-MORI poll for Transport for London suggests 61% of Londoners back the plans Mayor Livingstone said: "Luxury car manufacturers such as Porsche should take the hint and put their energy into reducing the carbon emissions of their cars instead of pursuing pointless legal action against this ground breaking policy."

Asked "how strongly do you support or oppose the decision to introduce a higher Congestion Charge of £25 for drivers using cars in the congestion charge zone in central London that emit the highest levels of carbon dioxide and do more damage to the environment?" 40% say they "strongly support it" with a further 21% saying they "tend to support it"

In a reflection of media focus on the £25 a day charge charge, 86% of Londoners said they were aware of the new charge but only 58% knew of the 100% exemption for drivers of cars in the lowest emission bands.

Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,041 adults aged 16+ across London between 11-12 March 2008. Quotas were set by age, gender, working status, tenure, and ethnicity in line with London's population profile. At the analysis stage data were weighted by age, gender, working status, ethnicity, tenure, social grade and area (Inner and Outer London).

2. http://www.pistonheads.com/porsche/default.asp?storyId=17657

Poll: 74% Of Londoners Oppose New C-Charge
Monday 25th February 2008
Porsche poll finds majority of Londoners disagree with new £25 charge

Three out of four Londoners oppose Mayor Ken Livingstone’s plan to increase the Congestion Charge to £25 for the highest polluting vehicles, a new opinion poll has found.

The poll has been commissioned by Porsche, and is part of the company’s fight to get the new charge scrapped after launching legal action last week.

The ICM poll showed that 74% of Londoners believe the new charge is unfair, said Porsche.

The poll reveals 65 per cent of those who voted for him last time think the £25 charge is too high, compared to 34 per cent who believe it is about right or not high enough.

The poll also revealed widespread suspicion over the Mayor’s motives for the increase. 62% of Londoners said the main reason for the proposal was because ‘he is most interested in raising extra money from Londoners’ rather than ‘cutting congestion and helping London’s environment.’

81 per cent of Londoners believe the increase in the congestion charge will be bad for business in London, according to the poll.

The research also found that 68 per cent of Londoners believe £8 is an unfair amount of money to pay to drive into the congestion zone.

Responding to the poll, Andy Goss, Managing Director of Porsche GB, said: ‘Londoners agree that the Mayor’s plans to introduce a massive new charge for larger vehicles is totally unfair and is more about squeezing money out of motorists than trying to help the environment.

‘The Mayor should take the chance to reconsider his plans before he leaves us with a system that risks damaging London and irritating massive numbers of people.’

[Ends]