Many more reason for asthma than cars
THE headline on Friday’s M.E.N. screamed ‘Greater Manchester’s deadly air pollution is worse than London’s.’
Who says so? A ‘think tank’ called IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) which uses asthma as ‘proof’ of their claims because Manchester has more emergency admissions to hospitals than the whole country – they conclude these findings from just ‘one’ piece of research by Kings College, London.
They also falsely claim 1.6m life years will be lost by defying all the concrete evidence that life expectancy has risen in all UK cities over the past 100 years and people cannot have pensions until their late 60s whilst the huge rise in the elderly population puts a huge burden on government resources.
Their asthma claims simply aren’t true and here’s some more reasons why:
A look through the many asthma expert sites on the internet and we see a completely different picture emerging. The leading causes of asthma are not outdoor vehicle pollution but airborne substances (pollen, dust mites, mould spores, pet dander or particles of cockroach waste); respiratory conditions including the common cold; physical activity (exercise-induced asthma); cold air; household cleaners and smoking.
In conclusion, we see how another little known institution keen on its own ideology deliberately tries to mislead the public and the government and thinks that it should have a large say in what happens in Manchester.
There’s no doubt that they want congestion charging, even though the people don’t and voted unanimously by 79% to reject it.
Democracy is the choice of the UK government and best serves the interests of the people.
If the IPPR wants people to take them seriously they need to become a democratically elected party. D Bagnall, Manchester