Toxic air levels 'not a concern' say Government

The Government has insisted deaths from toxic air are not an “emergency”, as anger grew over a bid to delay a long-awaited improvement plan. Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom appeared before the Commons chamber to defend her decision to use pre-election “purdah” rules to try to slam the brakes on the proposals. The move drew widespread criticism, with one MP accusing Ms Leadsom of condemning more people to an early death from illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide, largely blamed on diesel emissions. Labour insisted she was wrong to claim her hands were tied, because the purdah restrictions can be lifted in exceptional circumstances, including to protect public health.

In reply, Ms Leadsom acknowledged that “safeguarding public health” was set out in Cabinet Office guidelines as a possible exception to purdah rules. But she insisted: “This would generally only apply if there was an unexpected public health emergency, such as for example contaminated food, which needed to be dealt with urgently. So this doesn’t fall within that category for exception.” Ms Leadsom was then asked if that meant she did not consider toxic air to be an “emergency” – despite it being blamed for up to 40,000 early deaths every year. In reply, the minister acknowledged only that it was a “very significant and urgent concern”, refusing to use the word “emergency”.