Letter to editors on Air quiality

Dear Editor,

After dither and delay, and being taken to Court numerous times, I was pleased to see finally the Government publish its Clean Air Strategy this week. It is absolutely unacceptable that local people in Barnet and Camden continue to be exposed to toxic levels of air. According to the latest data, air pollution causes over 9,000 premature deaths every  year, so it is clear that a Government intervention has been long overdue.

However, the Government’s plans to clean up our air still do not go far enough, failing to address the main source of illegal emissions in London: cars and lorries. The Mayor of London has led the way on this issue, introducing robust measures to tackle vehicle pollution such as the T-Charge, cleaner buses on the worst polluted routes and from 2019 a bigger and more ambitious Ultra Low Emission Zone.

It’s good the Government are finally following the Mayor’s lead, but they must take more urgent and comprehensive action before more lives are unnecessarily cut short. They should start by taking stringent measures to get the most polluting vehicles off our roads – and allow London access to the Clean Air Fund. After all. Londoners pay for it so why can’t have some of it?

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Dismore AM

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden

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