According to a YouGov poll, 76% of people want clean air zones to bring their cities in line with European Standards after around 40,000 Britons die prematurely every year from exposure to pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and others fall victim to illnesses ranging from heart attacks to bronchitis.
Chairman of the Clean Air Alliance, Dan Byles, spoke on the poll by saying, "This research demonstrates just how big an issue air quality has become. As awareness of the scale of the problem and evidence of pollution's impact on our health has grown, people have become justifiably concerned."
Another study linked air pollution to increased mental illness and children, as it was revealed last week that nearly 90 secondary schools across London are exposed to illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide.
Boris Johnson had proposed an Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez) for central London to come into force in 2020, but Sadiq Khan has said he would more than double the size of the zone and try to introduce it earlier. He added "This data is further proof that the lacklustre measures proposed by the previous mayor would not have gone far enough to clean up London's filthy air." The mayor will launch a public consultation on the expanded Ulez on 5 July 2016, the 60th Anniversary of the Clean Air Act.
Liberal Democrats have written to the environmental secretary, Liz Truss, calling on her to ensure a post-Brexit Britain maintains EU air quality standards saying: "I urge you to ensure that in coming Brexit negotiations, the UK Government follows through on EU agreements to tackle air pollution and enshrines essential limits into British law. Leaving the EU must not be used as a way to water down vital air quality legislation. Do not betray the legacy of the Clean Air Act by allowing the UK to become the dirty man of Europe once again."
Labour MP and chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh, has said she feared that outside of the EU, the new political reality was that the Government would be unlikely to act on air pollution. Adding, "A new Clean Air Act is now needed for the 21st century. One that limits diesel pollution and ensures the Government, nationally, regionally and locally, prioritises the policies needed to clear the air in our towns and cities."
James MacColl, head of campaigns at the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "60 years on from the Clean Air Act, tens of thousands of people are still dying every year from the effects of air pollution. With road transport a major polluter, the Government urgently needs to reduce the number of vehicles on our roads."
"Today, our air may look cleaner but it is both legal and illegal. This time round it's the combustion engine, and in particular diesel cars, vans and buses, which are killing thousands of people up and down the country. As a result, the Government should take bold action now to start phasing out the use of diesel cars." said Harry Quilter-Pinner, a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
