Back Ulez or risk lung cancer, says Keir

LONDONERS are in greater danger of getting lung cancer unless the city’s ultra-low emissions zone is expanded, Sir Keir Starmer warned yesterday.

The Labour leader gave his full backing to London mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to widen Ulez to the whole of the capital in August.

Many drivers are furious about the expansion of the scheme, which would bring a daily £12.50 fee for vehicles that fail emissions standards to all London boroughs.

But despite admitting many vehicle owners would find it expensive, Sir Keir warned that politicians ‘can’t sit this one out’ while residents develop lung cancer.

He suggested politicians must radical action to tackle air pollution.

Asked on LBC Radio whether he was fully behind Mr Khan’s expansion of London’s Ulez scheme, he admitted: ‘There’s many people who will look at the scheme and say, “That’s a lot of money for me to pay”.’

However, he recounted a visit last week to the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research centre in his north London constituency, where he was shown an image of a lung affected by air pollution.

He added: ‘They blew up for me an incredibly detailed photograph of a lung with very dark marks on it, which were all the air pollution from our roads which were causing cancer in that and many other patients. I think it’s worth us all just asking ourselves, if we are not prepared to do these sort of schemes what are we going to do?

‘If increasing numbers of people – young people as well – are getting cancer, I have to say I took an intake of breath when I saw the photograph.

‘I’m not saying I don’t understand that paying money to use your vehicle for people who are already up against it is a big ask. ‘But I don’t think we can sit this one out.’ Meanwhile, Labour health spokesman Wes Streeting is exploring plans to introduce a New Zealand-style ban on smoking.

He said Labour would consult on the measure and insisted there was an ‘appetite’ among the public to take action on smoking rates, with a ban being ‘desirable’.

In what is thought to be a world first, New Zealand is set to make it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born after 2008.

This will lead to a legal smoking age that rises annually, designed to prevent the next generation from taking up smoking. Mr Streeting has hailed Labour’s consultation on phasing out the sale of cigarettes in Britain as part of ‘fresh radical thinking’ to ease pressure on the NHS.

He said: ‘The question for me on the New Zealand-style smoking ban isn’t whether it’s desirable, because I think in policy terms and in terms of public opinion, interestingly, there is an appetite and a policy driver.

‘In practice, is it going to work? It would be a great headline, and certainly a great signal of intent from the Labour Party.’