//Need to?//
Yes Zacs. Many people - particularly trade people such as plumbers, carpenters, general builders and so on need to travel either into Greater London from outside or around it to conduct their business. They cannot get on a bus with all their tools and materials; they cannot go by push bike. As well as them there are shop workers, hospital staff and many others who are "location dependent". Lots of them run older cars and vans which are not compliant.
The Mayor's scheme (and the reasons he cites to defend it) are ridiculous. He's on record as saying that motorists of non-compliant vehicles are responsible for the deaths of 4,000 people". Well, whether that's true or not, apparently you can kill as many people as you like for £12.50 a day. As well as that, the "consultation exercise" that was supposed to support its introduction was nothing short of a sham and if he gets away with this, the next step, which is an open secret, is road pricing for all vehicles in the whole of London.
The Mayor is anti-car, though does not advertise too much that when he goes out anywhere there are three vehicles in a convoy to keep him safe.
But I don't know where Boris (presumably Johnson) fits in!