Starmer: Ulez expansion needed to curb cancer

TOXIC air in London is causing lung cancer, Sir Keir Starmer said today as he argued people could not “sit out” actions to tackle it, like the Ulez extension.

He said he understood that people forced to buy a new car by the scheme would think that is a “lot of money for me to pay”. He argued there was a scrappage scheme, though it is restricted.

Mayor Sadiq Khan has been hit with a backlash against expanding the Ultra Low Emission Zone to the whole of Greater London from August 29. Critics say drivers have not been given enough time before the wider scheme comes into force. But Labour leader Sir Keir told of his shock on a visit to the Crick Institute laboratories in north London last Friday.

“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,” he told LBC Radio.

“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, and young people as well, are getting cancer... we can’t just sit that out.”

But Tory MPs have stepped up their campaign against the expansion, highlighting how people, including those on low incomes, are being forced to sell their cars if they are not Ulez- compliant.

Sir Keir was also forced to defend proposals to allow those from the EU and other people from overseas who settle in the UK to vote at General Elections, as well as 16- and 17-year-olds.

Critics say both moves aim to boost support for Labour, but Sir Keir said: “They’re not policy — we’re just looking at them.”