Do you sometimes read a sentence or phrase and think ‘I wish I’d written that’. Well, I came across one the other day written by Andy Kessler in the Wall Street Journal: ‘climate-excuse assaults on our liberties’. He was running through the range of restrictions, bans and taxes being imposed on citizens around the world in the name of climate change – or should I say, climate emergency or even global boiling.

But here’s the thing: these assaults are now going beyond reducing our freedoms; they are also driving up the cost of living while diminishing our scope to have fun. It’s early days, but there are some signs that the peasants are revolting – thank God.

The reaction to the extension of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone mandated by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is a compelling story. Undertaken in the name of reducing air pollution, revenue raising or reaching net zero – take your pick – ULEZ now imposes a £12.50 per day charge on drivers of non-compliant vehicles in the middle and outer suburbs of London. It has applied to close-in areas for a while.

Of course, the rich toffs are not affected because they all have compliant cars bought yesterday, including expensive electric vehicles, or wouldn’t even notice the daily charge. But for many others, ULEZ imposes a very real burden as the owners of non-compliant vehicles go about their daily business. Imposing such a clearly regressive policy is quite astonishing for a left-leaning politician such as Khan.

The most adversely affected are business owners who must use their vehicles to make a living and those on lower incomes who cannot afford to buy new cars, even with the addition of the insulting grant – it’s around £2,000 – offered by the city. I love the irony that if your car is old enough – say a 30-year-old E-type Jag – you are exempt from the ULEZ charge.

Khan has encountered some choppy waters and one of the bits of the story I particularly like is the overt driver sabotage of the ULEZ extension. The spying cameras are being painted over; there is a brisk online trade in fake registration plates; and there is an adhesive you can buy that prevents the cameras from reading the plates.

At this stage, it is estimated that at least 2 million ordinary UK folk have engaged in these subversive activities.

Unsurprisingy, Khan, the messiah, decided to enlist some academic supporters for his campaign to make life even more difficult for Londoners. The dons down at Imperial College were happy to oblige to endorse ‘the benefits of the mayoral air quality policies’. Let’s face it, the fee of nearly one million quid is a lot of money for academics. Yet the results were very disappointing for the man waging a war against cars. The first ULEZ rollout was found to have had no significant impact on air quality in London. Even its extension was not predicted to do anything noticeable. And what has been the response from the climate zealots employed at the City of London? To fudge and bury the results – obviously.

It is worth noting here that London is part of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. According to the blurb, ‘C40 is a global network of mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis’. Needless to say, it offers a lot of opportunities for global junketeering paid for by ratepayers. Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York, was president of the board and a driving force.

Both Sydney and Melbourne are part of the cabal. The recent show-off tactic of Clover Moore, Mayor of Sydney, to ban the reticulation of natural gas in the City of Sydney is an example of action designed to impress the other gravy train participants in the network.

The C40 cities have signed on to ‘an ambitious target for 2030’ which is packed with fun-filled ideas – not. No meat, no dairy, no private vehicles and only three new clothing items per person per year. One short flight every three years will be permitted.

Of course, the C40 is not the only organisation attempting to rob ordinary folk of fun and convenience. The Absolute Zero Report developed by Oxford and Cambridge Universities and released in 2019 contains an inventory of enjoyment-sapping proposals for the UK while driving up the cost of living. The demands include: smaller fridges, no beef or lamb, no flying, no shipping except for nuclear-powered ships, no cement or steel produced and no gas for cooking or heating. Road use would need to be reduced by 60 per cent and vehicles must be exclusively electric. By 2029, all airports in the UK must be closed with three exceptions.

My guess is the no flying rule doesn’t apply to the report’s authors because they must travel far and wide to spread the message, naturally.

Of course, academics on mad frolics are nothing new. But the UK government’s own Climate Change Committee, which is part of the legislated architecture on the UK’s road to net zero, has made a series of ‘helpful’ suggestions. It was headed by that mad green lefty, Lord Deben, who describes climate action in the UK now as ‘worryingly slow’.

The recommendations are all the predictable ones: more trees planted, flying less, no new coal or oil projects. Debs was mightily unimpressed, and let it be known, when Boris was PM – yes, mad green lefty Boris who first introduced ULEZ – he approved a 30-year coal mine in Cumbria.

One of the core recommendations of the CCC is ‘no net airport expansion’. Current UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has decided to ignore this suggestion and is approving various airport expansions. Seven of the UK’s main airports have plans to expand. It’s almost as if Debs and his like want to take away the joys of travel from the masses and return overseas travel to the elites, ‘people like us’-types. No doubt, they have always taken a dim view of Ryanair and the like.

But here’s a drum roll moment: pet ownership is bad for the climate and needs to be limited, if not prohibited. All those dogs, cats and whatever burping and farting and just think about all the meat they eat and the carbon emissions associated with that. Gosh, it’s the equivalent of (insert really frighteningly large number) of cars (non-electric, of course) on the road.

So farewell Fido, farewell Kitty – your days are numbered in the name of doing something about the climate crisis.

That will go down well with the masses – not.