Today marks a big win and a significant milestone towards our goal, but we still are not there yet.

Friday Feb 23, 2024 - Today the London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a real ULEZ to Ukraine scheme agreement whereby London-based British Ukrainian Aid will become a trusted partner of Transport for London, under contract to deliver ULEZ scrappage vehicles to Ukraine. Londoners will retain the right to scrap their vehicles conventionally or to opt for Ukraine, receiving a 'Certificate of Donation' instead of a 'Certificate of Destruction'. They will then receive the same subsidy payout, typically £2000 for a car or up to £7000 for a van. This is a huge advance, make no mistake. Just three weeks ago the Transport Secretary Mark Harper was telling Khan that he should crack on with a scheme - and at that moment, Khan had in truth done very little except talk us around in circles. He had not committed to anything. Now he has. 

The reason we're not there yet is that an agreement is not the same as a live scheme. There are many details that still have to be worked out. British Ukrainian Aid will need to raise funds since for now no public body is putting in a penny. Time is of the essence because vehicles are being scrapped every day that could save lives in Ukraine. But together with other volunteer groups we will achieve something good. When you consider that we could transport 2,500 vehicles into Ukraine for the price of one Storm Shadow missile (£2.5 million), you begin to see what a high value proposition this is. It must be achievable. But now the work begins. We'll only declare victory once we have achieved vehicle deliveries, because that was always the goal: real results not paper agreements.

*Above newspaper story is the London Evening Standard, Friday February 23, 2024.