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Defra meets with Boris Johnson to discuss London air pollution

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and London Mayor hold talks over issues around air quality in London

London Mayor Boris Johnson and Environment Secretary Owen Paterson have met to address the capital’s air quality problem, Defra has revealed.

Details of the discussion have not been publicised, but newly appointed minister for air quality, Dan Rogerson, revealed that the meeting had taken place this month, after being questioned on the issue in the House of Commons.

(l-r) Environment Secretary Owen Paterson & London Mayor Boris Johnson

(l-r) Environment Secretary Owen Paterson & London Mayor Boris Johnson

The Liberal Democrat MP was responding to questions from Labour MPs Valierie Vaz and Jim Fitzpatrick over what the government is doing to address the number of deaths in the UK which can be directly attributable to air pollution.

Outlining the government’s plans to address the issue, he said: “Air quality in the United Kingdom has improved significantly over many years, but it still has an effect equivalent to reducing the average life expectancy of everyone living in the UK by six months. The Government are committed to ongoing work to reduce the impact and have invested many billions of pounds in measures that will help to reduce air pollution from transport, energy and industrial sources.”

‘Public health crisis’

Ms Vaz, the MP for Walsall South, also claimed that government risked a ‘public health crisis’ if air quality in the UK is to worsen, and asked what more the government could do to avoid further potential deaths in light of the Supreme Court ruling in May that the UK was failing its legal duty to tackle air pollution (see airqualitynews.com story)

Mr Rogerson added: “If we take the transport sources of air pollution, for example, we have invested over £1 billion in measures to promote growth in electric vehicles, which will help to transform future air quality, along with cleaner buses and a range of other policies. We are also negotiating at the European level for better standards in diesel vehicles, which contribute significantly to oxides of nitrogen levels.”

Meanwhile, Mr Fitzpatrick, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse in East London asked whether the minister had worked alongside the Greater London Authority to tackle air pollution in the city. Responding to the question, the minister claimed that while he had yet to discuss the issue with the Mayor, Mr Paterson and Mr Johnson had held talks over measures to improve London’s air quality.

He said: “In the last month I have had no such meetings, but my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met the Mayor to discuss this issue.”

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Impact Global Emission Solutions » Blog Archive » Defra meets with Boris Johnson to discuss London air pollution
10 years ago
Mat
Mat
10 years ago

what have you done to tackle air pollution, Defra and London mayor? We held talks. Oh well done, back slaps all round. We’ve invested shed loads of money so we must have somehow sorted the problem. Oh we are still not compliant with the limits that the EU Commission saw essential enough to make them legal minimum requirements, oh well they must be over the top then. Let’s set some new standards then. — I still think London would need to make the retrofit of busses with particulate abatement equipment 100% (no, still not there yet, not by a long shot according to my experience on the road) plus black (smoke) cabs should be retrofitted to Euro5, Euro3 is meaningless. It’s not about a couple of months life lost bad as this is, it’s about a plethora of respiratory problems exacerbated and productivity lost as a result.
http://taxileaks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/new-defra-report-which-shows-all.html

Michael Ryan
Michael Ryan
10 years ago

The Borough of Tower Hamlets, which includes Poplar and Limehouse, has been asked about the falling infant mortality rates in the Borough prior to the start-up of the SELCHP incinerator in 1993 and the subsequent rise in rates after that incinerator started.

The infant mortality data for all London Boroughs (1970-2010) is at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedom-of-information/what-can-i-request/previous-foi-requests/health-and-social-care/infant-mortality-rates-in-the/index.html

The graph showing falling & post-SELCHP rising infant mortality rates in Tower Hamlets, Newham, & Lewisham Boroughs is at:

http://ukhr.eu/incineration/selchp.htm
Here’s my FoI request:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/what_reasons_were_assumed_for_th/new

What reasons were assumed for the falling infant mortality rate in Tower Hamlets prior to 1993 and the subsequent rise afterwards?
(8 November 2013)

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