Air Pollution

Yesterday I went to London’s City Hall to deliver a letter from over 100 local headteachers to the Mayor, Sadiq Khan. The letter calls for safe, clean air for children all over the city. “Clean air now! Clean air now! Clean air now!” chanted children from five primary schools. And who could argue with that?

Dear Sadiq Khan,

We are headteachers who represent schools from across London. Our schools are in areas where our children and young people are being forced to breathe some of the most toxic air in London, and the country as a whole.

We welcome the bold commitments you have made to clean up London’s air.

The car industry is under the spotlight this week. Fiat are facing accusations of cheating on diesel emissions by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Like Volkswagen it is about using technology that hides the true impact and damage their cars are doing. The accusations came just a day after Volkswagen admitted to cheating emissions tests in over 500,000 vehicles and received fines of $4.3bn.

Children’s hero Mary Poppins is back. But the air isn’t clear as she makes her descent - she has to wear an air pollution mask to cut through the toxic fumes.

Subject: Diesel Free London

Dear Mayor Sadiq Khan,

2016 has been a year full of air pollution lowlights. The UK has the second highest number of premature deaths in Europe owing to bad air quality. London has suffered multiple high air pollution episodes. And the national government has been defeated in the high court for failure to deal with air quality issues. There has never been a more urgent time to take action.