928.org.uk and the Porsche Judicial Review
In February Porsche announced it would take Livingstone's administration to court over charging Porache drivers £25 each time they entered central London. Porsche Cars GB Limited argued that the rise, due to come into force in October, was "unfair and disproportionate".
928.org.uk supported this legal challenge, and wrote to Andy Goss, Managing Director, to offer that support, and point out to him that every single 928 made since 1978 would be penalised by this measure.
In July 2008 the Porsche Legal campaign won a successful victory in its congestion charge challenge
Its particularly heartening for us to see Porsche win here, because its particularly nasty to use the politics of envy (mistakenly) to bring about change. 928 owners are not toffee nosed individuals with unlimited resources. We are mostly running our 928s out of passion for this remarkable car, on small budgets and with modest means. The chang in the charge would have put 928 ownership out of reach for most people in the charge zone, and anyone using their 928 do move though it. Thats why we applaud Porsche for taking a stand and we support them.
Congratulations Andy on a remarkable victory!
Porsche Letter about the campaign
Thank you very much for your support as we challenged
Mayor Livingstone's proposed £25 congestion charge in London.
As you saw for yourself, the congestion charge was a major issue
in the mayoral campaign and the candidate who opposed this
extension, Boris Johnson, was elected Mayor.
I am pleased to inform you that, today, the Administrative Court
in London has approved a consent order quashing the increase to
the charge. The new Mayor's legal team accepted that the
previous Mayoral administration should have taken into account
research from King's College which showed that the new charge
would actually increase CO2 emissions in Greater London and,
consequently that the new charge could, in fact, be unlawful.
Porsche has always been confident that the legal case was right
and now we are proud to have played a decisive role in striking
down such a blatantly political tax targeting motorists.
It is expected that significant legal costs will be awarded and
Porsche has decided to donate those costs to a fantastic charity
called Skidz, which takes at-risk young people and trains them in
motor vehicle maintenance and mechanics. This gives them the
tools and confidence they need to find gainful employment and
avoid a life of crime.
The support from Porsche will allow Skidz to open a facility in
Hillingdon, providing this opportunity to young Londoners for
the first time.
If you have any further comments or questions, you can contact
Porsche directly by e-mail at judicial.review@porsche.co.uk or
telephone 08457 911 911.
Thank you again for your support which was tremendously
encouraging and important to the challenge.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Goss
Managing Director
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