Mayor quashes £25 congestion fee hike

Boris Johnson said the charge would hit "families and small businesses" London Mayor Boris Johnson has quashed the proposed rise in congestion charge for vehicles deemed the most polluting. Former mayor, Ken Livingstone, planned to raise the daily levy from £8 to £25 from October, prompting car maker Porsche to bring a legal challenge. Porsche said it was "always confident that our legal case was right". Scrapping the proposed raise was one of Mr Johnson's election pledges and a spokesman said the "most cost-effective way" was to accede the legal case. Mr Livingstone said ditching the charge was a "further blow" to tackling climate change. 'Political tax increase' Under Mr Livingstone's plans the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions cars would have paid £25 to enter the zone whereas cars while those with the lowest... [read full story]