Yahoo News Andy Burnham called the Conservatives' bluff over the Clean Air Zone - but at what cost?
At the start of 2022, Andy Burnham was in a bit of a pickle.
A few years earlier, all 10 councils in Greater Manchester had been instructed by the government to clean up the air. Everyone agreed some motorists would have to pay.
Cars would be exempt, but taxis, vans, lorries and buses would face fees of up to £60 a day if they did not meet certain emissions standards. The plans were eventually agreed by the government and local leaders who faced the prospect of legal action if they did not proceed.
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But it wasn't just the legal threat that made local leaders act. Air pollution, primarily caused by vehicles, was said to contribute to 1,200 premature deaths a year in the region and, as Mr Burnham pointed out in 2021, "the kids in the poorest communities breathe the poorest air."
Then, later that year, the Clean Air Zone signs went up and an almighty row ensued. The Greater Manchester mayor blamed the government, saying that local leaders were left with no choice but to introduce the charges - but the Tories put the blame squarely on him.
Boris Johnson branded the scheme 'completely unworkable', but Mr Burnham said that it was the strict deadline that the government had set that made it so. The mayor argued that the plan devised before the pandemic was no longer suitable, citing rising vehicle costs.
In the end, ministers agreed to push back the deadline for councils to clean up the air by two years, giving them until 2026. The Clean Air Zone has remained under review ever since.
The Labour mayor said he never wanted the charges, claiming that his calls for a Clean Air Zone back in 2017 were in fact for a 'non-charging' scheme. Then, suddenly, that became the party line with local leaders saying they could clean the air without any charges at all, arguing for an 'investment-led' approach instead involving grants to upgrade vehicles.
Mr Burnham was calling the Conservatives' bluff. Setting out the proposal in a letter to the Prime Minister in March 2022, he literally told Mr Johnson, "the ball is in your court."
It was a gamble. Not only would transport bosses have to prove that Greater Manchester's 10 councils would be able to meet their legal obligations to clean up the air without charging any motorists by 2026, they had to show that this would be the quickest way of doing it.
But politically, the risk was minimal. If the government concluded that the new plan would not cut pollution enough, it would be for Tory ministers to insist that charges must be introduced.
The first sign that this strategy was working came a few months later when the government suggested introducing charges in Manchester city centre only. But local leaders stood firm, despite calls from campaigners and some Labour councillors to introduce the charges.
What then followed was nearly three years of dither and delay. Meanwhile air quality remained at illegal levels and in some parts of Greater Manchester, pollution went up.
Several iterations of the investment-led plan were published, including one which required 'rounding down the numbers' to prove it could work. Transport bosses also had to get around the fact that work to clean up 1,153 buses had all been all for nothing after the government revealed that the technology used to reduce emissions was not as effective as first thought.
But they have now got it over the line. On Thursday (January 23), the government confirmed that it would approve Greater Manchester's plans meaning no charges will be introduced.
Mr Burnham has said it is 'truly a great outcome'. Politically, he's played a blinder.
However, campaigners have warned that the plan does not go far enough in protecting the health of our most vulnerable communities. While the new Clean Air Plan has passed the same legal test, it is far less ambitious than the scheme that was scrapped three years ago.
Pushing back the plans ultimately kicked the can down the road - and it has cost lives. Under the original plan, Greater Manchester's air was supposed to have been cleaned up by 2024.
But according to the latest figures, there are still 64 places across the city-region where nitrogen dioxide levels are above legal limits. Local leaders have argued that new cleaner buses, reducing traffic around the city centre and funding for cabbies to upgrade their vehicles will bring the levels down - and the government has bought their argument.
It may be a political triumph for Mr Burnham, but no one comes out of this three-year saga looking good. Lives are at stake here and politicians have gambled with people's health.
