Andrew Dismore

Local London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore AM has backed calls for a diesel scrappage scheme following a sharp increase in the number of diesel vehicles on London’s roads. New analysis shows over 170,000 diesel cars have been registered in the capital since 2012, despite serious public health warnings about the risks of cancer and air pollution. Mr Dismore criticised the last Mayor’s failure to reduce the number of diesel cars in the capital and said the government were “running out of opportunities to dismiss calls for a scrappage scheme”.

 

Data from the Department for Transport shows that there were 601,456 diesel cars on London’s roads in 2012. But by 2015, that number had risen by 173,057 to 774,513, equating to a 29% increase. The rise comes despite serious concerns about the impact of diesel vehicles on public health.

 

In 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organisation, classified diesel exhaust as a ‘definite carcinogen’. This was followed by a 2014 report from Transport for London (TfL) which cited that the growing popularity of diesel was a contributing factor in London’s failure to comply with EU air pollution limits. Warnings also came that year from Dr Frank Kelly, Professor of Environmental Health at King’s College London, that some diesel emissions, such as black carbon, can have a “much bigger health impact” than other pollutants.

 

Mr Dismore criticised the previous Mayor, Boris Johnson, for his “half-hearted” approach to tackling air pollution in the capital and said it was “staggering” that he hadn’t done more to take diesel cars off London’s roads. He echoed calls from new Mayor, Sadiq Khan, for a diesel scrappage scheme to help Londoners wanting to move to lower emission vehicles.

 

Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, said:

 

“The dangers of diesel have long been discussed, but the World Health Organisation’s decision to classify it as a carcinogen should have marked a turning point.

 

“It’s staggering that the last Mayor, presented with this evidence, didn’t act more vigorously to reduce the number of diesel cars on our roads. His ultra-low emissions zone was too small in scale and ambition, betraying his half-hearted approach to tackling air pollution in London.

 

“Government can no longer turn a blind eye to the serious consequences of diesel emissions. This worrying rise in diesel engines shows that they are running out of opportunities to dismiss calls for a scrappage scheme.”