Sadiq Khan has been told to apologise by City Hall Conservatives after his ULEZ radio adverts were judged to have been “likely to mislead” Londoners by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).
The ASA found that three Transport for London (TfL) adverts for the expansion of the controversial scheme made claims about the benefits of the ULEZ in central London, air pollution-related deaths occurring in outer London and about pollution levels inside cars of which evidence was not “given”, “explained” or “adequately substantiated”.
Now the London Assembly’s Tory leader Neil Garratt has told the mayor that he must apologise for his role in “misleading Londoners”.
But a spokesman for the Mayor of London insisted there was “nothing misleading about the content” of the adverts and that they were “clearly presented”.
In a letter to Khan’s office, Garratt said he and the rest of the Tory group were “disappointed to see your spokesperson suggest the ASA were incorrect and refer to your attempt to mislead Londoners as a ‘minor technical point’”.
It read: “We would, therefore, urge you to take responsibility for the disingenuous adverts, accept the ASA’s verdict and apologise to Londoners for having misled them.”
Responding to the findings at the time, a TfL spokesman said the ASA was not challenging the science behind the claims but the way they had been made claiming the ruling was based on a “minor technical point”.
In response to Garratt’s letter, Khan’s spokesman refused to apologise and said there was “nothing misleading” about the adverts.
He said: “There is nothing misleading about the content of the GLA and TfL ads. The ASA is not contesting this science, but the wording of the adverts. The information was based on robust scientific evidence and was clearly presented.”
He added: “The ruling from the ASA is about minor technical points in the adverts. We will take this into account when drafting the wording and referencing in any future adverts.
“We are confident the adverts were accurate and not misleading. They went through a robust process and were approved by air quality policy experts and Radiocentre.”
The ASA verdict came after more than 500 complaints about six different radio commercials, with City Hall Conservatives among those who had lodged a complaint.
Three out of the six grounds for complaint among the adverts were upheld and three were not.
