While the Government is distracted by its chaotic handling of Brexit, we must not let ministers get away with their complete and utter failure to get to grips with another national crisis – toxic levels of air pollution.
Our killer air is linked to 40,000 early deaths every year in Britain. It’s stunting the growth of children’s lungs.
It’s leading to diseases like asthma, cancers, dementia, and, new research from King’s College has found, is correlated with psychosis in young people.
Just this week, air pollution campaigners united in attacking the Government for its lack of action. Greenpeace declared that the pitiful funding allocated to help local councils improve air quality is “about as effective as chucking your small change into a wishing well in the hope a solution will appear”. I couldn’t have put it better myself.
The truth is that councils across the country remain severely under-resourced, unable to introduce clean air zones that could come close to replicating London’s Ultra Low-Emissions Zone (ULEZ), which starts on Monday.
This is an outrage given how effective London’s ULEZ is set to be.
(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Images)
From Monday, vehicles driving within central London will have to meet tough emissions standards, or pay a £12.50 charge a day. That’s for cars and motorbikes that don’t meet the standard. Lorries, coaches and buses will have to pay £100.
This is expected to reduce toxic air pollution in the city by 45 per cent in just two years and forms a key part of Sadiq’s wider package of air quality measures – the toughest of any major city in the world.
Shockingly, the Tories in London are opposing the action Sadiq is taking to tackle air pollution in the capital.
This includes the Tory Mayoral candidate, Shaun Bailey, who opposed the introduction of the ULEZ this year and has pledged to cancel its expansion to the North and South Circular roads in 2021.
This is particularly unfair when you consider that poor air quality disproportionately affects London’s poorest people who are least likely to own a car. So much for the principle that the polluter pays.
But maybe we shouldn’t be surprised given the Tory Government’s pitiful efforts to get to grips with our air pollution crisis. Time and again, the Tories have failed to step up and deliver the money and legislation we desperately need to improve the air we breathe.
For example, they are refusing to follow Sadiq’s lead and fund a national diesel scrappage scheme, which would help people upgrade their vehicles to cleaner, greener options. There is no national strategy for rolling out electric vehicles (EVs) and their charging infrastructure, or changing the tax rules for company cars to encourage EV take-up.
By failing to take action to improve our filthy air, protect our children’s health and, ultimately, save lives, the Tories are placing themselves on the wrong side of history. No more excuses. It’s time for action.
