The government’s recently announced plan to tackle air pollution has come under fierce attack from Bath’s new MP Wera Hobhouse, with the contents being criticised for their lack of local action.
She said: “There is almost nothing in this so-called ‘plan’ that will make any difference to Bath’s current pollution crisis. People living on London Road and other busy routes are suffering serious damage to their health right now. They can’t wait another 23 years for something to be done.
“Michael Gove only cobbled his ‘plan’ together after the courts forced the government to stop ignoring their duty to clean up the air we breath.
“Even then, all they could manage was a rehash of the coalition government’s 2011 proposal to ban new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040.
“There is hardly anything in Mr Gove’s ‘plan’ that will make a quick difference to the estimated 40,000 premature deaths a year linked to this pollution.
“Some of those deaths are probably occurring in Bath, which is 26th in the national league of shame on nitrogen dioxide pollution levels.
“Gove’s idea of a plan is to pass the buck to some local authorities and ask them to make a plan. The government’s own experts say that Clean Air Zones are the best way to tackle pollution, but they have been left out of the policy and are now at the whim of local councils.
“This is a disgraceful abdication of responsibility by the government.
If 40,000 citizens a year were dying from terrorist attacks, or even 400, there would be uproar and action.
“Because pollution is a hidden killer, it is just being ignored by the Conservatives.”