Renewed calls for UK to tackle toxic air ahead of high court hearing

The government is coming under renewed pressure to introduce a new Clean Air Act to tackle the UK’s toxic levels of air pollution.

Ministers are due back in the high court later this week to defend their current plans which have previously been ruled so poor that they are illegal.

Ahead of the hearing on Thursday, a new coalition of experts has called on ministers to respond to a crisis that causes about 50,000 early deaths every year in the UK.

The Clean Air in London campaign and Baroness Jenny Jones, the Green party peer, have released a proposed clean air bill calling for breathing clean air to be a human right.

Separately, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) has called on the government to introduce “a modern Clean Air Act, equivalent to the one produced in the 1950s in response to London’s Great Smog, in order to reduce harmful emissions across the UK.”

Philippa Oldham, lead author of the IME report, said commuters around the UK were breathing dangerous levels of pollution every day.

“While much of the media focus is on our capital, it is worth noting that this is a serious problem that affects us all,” Oldman added. “Back in the 1950s, doctors kick-started a national movement on the risks of smoking; there is a need to start doing the same with air quality, to encourage people to drive less and use public transport, walk and cycle more.”

Jones said: “We should all enjoy clean air even when we are working in a busy city, or living under an airport flight path. I hope that people will add their ideas to this bill and support my attempt to push the government into action.”

The idea of a new Clean Air Act has been gathering momentum as the public and politicians have become aware of the scale of the UK’s air pollution crisis. London mayor Sadiq Khan has thrown his weight behind the plan and Labour MP Geraint Davies has been campaigning in Westminster. Last year a UK wide survey found that two-thirds of the population supported the idea of a new Clean Air Act.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs said: “Air pollution has improved significantly since 2010, but we recognise there is more to do which is why we have put in place a £3.5bn plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions.

“We will also end the sale of conventional new diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2040, and this year we will publish a comprehensive clean air strategy which will set out further steps to tackle air pollution.”