Three-quarters of people living in cities want clean air zones, poll finds

The UK may be on its way out of the EU but more than three-quarters (76%) of people want clean air zones to bring their cities into line with European standards, according to a YouGov poll.

The poll comes as new forecasting suggests London will still breach the limits for another 14 years without further action and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, prepares to make a major speech on pollution-cutting measures on Tuesday.

Around 40,000 Britons die early every year from exposure to pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter, and many more fall victim to illnesses ranging from heart attacks to bronchitis. Dozens of British cities have been in breach of EU NO2 limits since 2010.

“This research demonstrates just how big an issue air quality has become,” said Dan Byles, the chairman of the Clean Air Alliance, which commissioned the research. “As awareness of the scale of the problem and evidence of pollution’s impact on our health has grown, people have become justifiably concerned.”

Air pollution is rising up the political agenda in the wake of the VW emissions scandal, and as the health impacts of dirty air become clearer. One recent study linked air pollution to increased mental illness and children for the first time, and last week it was revealed that nearly 90 secondary schools in London are exposed to illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide.

YouGov polled more than 800 people in Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton, where the government plans to introduce clean air schemes by 2020, as well as in London, where an “ultra low emissions zone” is planned.

Only 11% of people opposed using taxation and charges to drive polluting vehicles off the roads, and just 17% said they would be less likely to buy from a company that made low-emission vehicles – even if this made them more expensive.

Toby Peters, the chief executive of Dearman, a clean tech company which supported the poll, said: “We are clearly at a crossroads and people across the country aren’t just calling for a change of direction. Many are now willing to back companies and authorities that demonstrate leadership. This will only continue to gather momentum.”

Forecasting this week for the Greater London Authority has also found that parts of the capital – including the city centre, Heathrow and major roads – would still be above the annual limits for NO2 by 2030.

The modelling suggests Londoners will have to put up with dirty and dangerous air for much longer than central government’s environment department, which forecasts the city will be compliant with the limits by 2025.

Boris Johnson had proposed an Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez) for central London to come into force in 2020, but in May Khan said he would more than double the size of the zone and try to introduce it earlier. The modelling for NO2 limits is based only on the previous measures outlined by Johnson.

Khan said: “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 at Great Ormond Street hospital on Tuesday, the 60th anniversary of the Clean Air Act.

While the UK today mostly suffers problems with NO2, an invisible toxic gas produced by diesel vehicles, the act was brought in to tackle smoke from coal burning that created the “great smogs” of the 1950s.

The Liberal Democrats have written to the environment secretary, Liz Truss, calling on her to ensure a post-Brexit Britain maintains EU air quality standards.

“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,” says the letter, signed by the party’s environment and transport spokespeople, Baroness Parminter and Baroness Randerson, and Catherine Bearder MEP.

Mary Creagh, the Labour MP and chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, said she feared that outside of the EU – without the stick of the UK facing EU fines for breaching air quality – the new political reality was that the government would be unlikely to act on air pollution.

“A new Clean Air Act is now needed for the 21st century. One that limits diesel pollution and ensures that government, nationally, regionally and locally, prioritises the policies needed to clear the air in our towns and cities.”

Other campaigners are also expected to use the anniversary to call for a new Act and for all local authorities to have the ability to create clean air zones.

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.”

Harry Quilter-Pinner, a research fellow at the IPPR thinktank said: “Today, our air may look cleaner but it is both lethal and illegal. This time round it’s the combustion engine, and in particular diesels 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.”